Box Score
Radnor, PA – Tied 6-6 with just under seven minutes to play in Saturday's Colonial States Athletic Conference Final, Cabrini College scored the game's final three goals on their way to a 9-6 victory over Marywood University as the Cavaliers claimed their 11th-consecutive conference championship and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pacers, who gave the Cavaliers their narrowest margin of victory in their 11-year championship reign, now awaits word on a potential invitation to the Eastern States Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament after seeing their record move to 11-6.
Cabrini took a 1-0 lead with 6:42 to play in the first quarter of Saturday's championship game when Jeff Crosby scored off an assist from Paul Skulski and doubled their lead just 43 seconds later when Dan Terenick tallied off a feed from Bobby Thorpe. Crosby netted his second marker of the afternoon with 4:11 to play in the opening quarter to give the Cavaliers a 3-0 advantage before George Downey IV, currently ranked 5th in the nation in face-off win percentage, won the ensuing face-off, collected the groundball, and put Marywood on the board just eight seconds later, cutting the Pacers' deficit to two goals after the first 15 minutes of play.
Skulski restored Cabrini's three-goal advantage 30 seconds into the second quarter with an extra-man opportunity goal that was setup by Terenick. Downey's second goal of the contest at the 8:03 mark, assisted by Marcus Janda, cut the Cavaliers lead to 4-2. Cabrini would hold a 5-2 lead at halftime after Joe Arrell scored of a Skulski helper with 42.2 second to play in the period with the hosts holding a 16-9 advantage in shots in the opening 30 minutes of play.
Gregory Nester made the scored 5-3 by converting Janda's second assist of the afternoon for Marywood, but Cabrini would hold a 6-3 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of play after Thorp scored with just eight seconds to play in the third quarter.
Marywood scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter to knot the game at 6-6. Downey completed his hat-trick off a Brian Roerden assist with 10:44 to play. Nick Parks tallied off a William Roerden feed and then set up Janda's game-tying goal with just over nine minutes to play to level the score.
Cabrini countered, however, with three unanswered goals of their own. Terenick's second goal of the contest, assisted by Crosby, with 6:45 to play proved to be the game-winner while Skulski added a pair of insurance markers in the final 2:20 as the Cavaliers locked up their 11th-straight conference title.
Marywood's attack was paced by three-point efforts by Downey (3 goals) and Janda (1 goal, 2 assists) while Parks finished with two points on one goal and one helper. Jesse Habich took the loss in Marywood's cage despite turning in an outstanding, 16-save performance.
Downey won a game-high seven face-offs while collecting a team-best four groundballs for Marywood, who got two caused turnovers apiece from defensemen James Drescher and John Pelligrini.
Skulski led Cabrini's attack with a game-high five points on three goals and two assists while Terenick finished with 4 points on two goals and two assists. Cavalier goalie Erick Zarzecki made 11 saves to pick up the win.
Cabrini held a 37-21 advantage in shots for the game and a slim, 29-26 edge in groundballs while Marywood won nine face-offs to eight for Cabrini.
