Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/23/24
From Press Release
On Friday night, the Cabrini University men’s lacrosse team defeated visiting Eastern, 17-13, in the fourteenth and final meeting between the programs.
While dominating the faceoff x behind John McCormick (Episcopal Academy), Cabrini (6-3) scored 13 of the first 15 goals of the game. The Eagles closed the gap to two goals at 15-13 and had the ball with eight minutes left, but the Cavaliers forced a turnover and scored back-to-back goals to claim the game.
For the Eagles (3-5), the game could not have started worse. With both teams pumped for the the final match in the rivalry, the Cavalier shooters found the mark early. Though Eastern had a 12-11 edge in first quarter shots, the Eagles did not find the goal until Nick Litzenberger ripped a lower corner with 11 seconds left in the frame. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, hit the crossbar on their first shot and then scored on eight of their next nine attempts. Litzenberger (2G, 1A) reached 100 career points with the goal.
Cabrini then scored five of the first six goals of the second quarter. Litzenberger had the only Eastern goal in that run. The Eagles got a little life late on an outside shot from Christopher Fanelli (Pennridge, 3G, 2A) and a strong dodge to the goal from Brennan Kaut to close out the half, but Cabrini still held a 13-4 lead.
Cabrini Scoring
-Connor Herraiz led all scoring with a career-high 6 goals for the Cavaliers. Mario Leone (Clearview-NJ), Tommy Vaughan, and Dillon McManus each recorded 3, while Nate Mazurek and Griffin Ganster (Gov. Mifflin) had one apiece.
-Herraiz also provided 3 assists, as Griffin Ganster, Jason Fridge, and Mason Lenart (Wilson) added a pair. Dillon McManus, Austin Bolton, Tommy Vaughan, and Nate Mazurek each had a single helper.
Cabrini Defense
-Jack Gerzabeck (Springfield-Delco) and Bear Evans shared a game-high 2 caused turnovers, while Peter Hewitt and Sebastian Tobias (St. Augustine Prep-NJ) each earned one.
-Sebastian Tobias had 3 ground balls, as Sam Kirk (Bishop Shanahan), Bear Evans (Garnet Valley), and Gavin Lenart collected a pair.
-McCormick won 24 of 34 faceoffs (71%), picking 17 ground balls in total.
-Brayden Skipper (Wilson) made 8 saves to 13 goals against in the winning decision
Eastern Scoring
Gavin Stark had three goals and one assist and Christopher Fanelli (Pennridge) had two goals and an assist while Connor Bachman had a goal and an assist.
