Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/8/21
From Press Release
The No. 5 ranked Cabrini men’s lacrosse continued its championship winning ways today, as the Cavaliers scored a 19-5 win over Neumann to win the program’s 20th consecutive conference championship.
The Blue and White claimed 18 straight titles in the Colonial States Athletic Conference and each of the last two as members of the Atlantic East Conference.
By virtue of today’s championship win, the Cavaliers have also earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, slated to begin next weekend. Cabrini will learn its fate with the rest of the country on Sunday night, when the NCAA Tournament Selection Show is broadcast at 9:30pm on NCAA.com.
Senior Matt LoParo was named Most Valuable Player after pairing five goals, two assists five ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.
Junior Kyle Tucker had a career day in the victory, as both his six goals and seven total points marked career highs.
Senior Jake Klein (Wilson) directed the attack to the tune of four assists, while freshmen Max Drift and Tommy Vaughan (Archbishop Wood) notched two goals apiece.
Seniors Ty Kostack (Marple Newtown) and Tommy DeLuca also joined junior Griffin Shira and freshman Dan Bennett (St. Augustine Prep) with one goal each, while DeLuca added three caused turnovers and a game high eight ground balls to the Cavaliers’ defensive effort. Fellow senior Bobby Cressman (berks Catholic) also paired three caused turnovers and three ground balls.
Klein secured six ground balls on the day, one more than sophomore Seamus Hogan (Academy of the New Church), Vaughan and sophomore Jake Huey (Marple Newtown), who won nine of his 14 faceoff chances.
Freshman goaltender Rob Pensabene (Lenape) provided the backstop to a defensive effort that pressured the Knights into 28 turnovers, while allowing just 24 shots. The rookie tallied 13 saves in his first career start.
The Cavaliers grabbed an early lead, as LoParo connected with Tucker less than 90 seconds into the game. The junior was on the business end of a Klein pass two minutes later, as Cabrini doubled its lead.
The lead remained a slim 2-0 for much of the opening period, but Drift solved the Neumann defense twice in the final 2:19, as the Cavaliers took a 4-0 lead into the second quarter.
After an early LoParo marker, the Knights responded with back to back goals, pulling within 5-2 at the 12:36 mark. Neumann would record just one more shot over the duration of the second quarter, as five Cavaliers combined to score six goals to build an 11-2 halftime lead.
The Blue and White outshot the Knights 45-5 in the first quarter and secured 33 ground balls to just 11 for the visitors in the opening 30 minutes.
Senior Colin Blake (Springfield-Delco), junior Brett McLaughlin (Interboro) and freshman Justice Brovero (Woodstown-NJ) tallied a goal and an assist each for Neumann (6-4), while McLaughlin added five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior goaltender Brendan Risley (Ridley) posted a season-high 19 saves in the loss.
