WASHINGTON, DC (May 4, 2022) -- Host and No. 1 seed Catholic University scored the first six goals Wednesday in the Landmark Conference Tournament semifinal, using that lead to advance with a 15-5 victory over the Susquehanna University men's lacrosse squad in play from Carlini Field. With the loss, the River Hawks finish their 2022 season with a 9-9 record. 

Catholic University (12-4) controlled the first quarter, outscoring the River Hawks 5-0 in the period fueled by a pair of goals from both Chris Novella and Kevin Crowley. Susquehanna had a good chance in the fourth minute of the game, but a Steven Musser shot clanged off the post and out. 

The Cardinals run continued into the second quarter before first-year Brennan Lorence got the River Hawks on the board at 11:11 of the period with help from Chris Ciccarello. CUA came right back with two goals before the end of the half to put the Cardinals up 9-1 at the break. 

First-year Matthew Faggioli scored the first goal of the second half to make it a six-goal game, but Catholic rattled off four goals to make the score 12-2 with just under eight minutes to play in the third period. First-year Kieran Thomas was set up by classmate Jack Gaillard for a goal as the game went to the fourth quarter at 13-3 Catholic. 

Lorence and Musser each tallied in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough as the Cardinals advanced to Saturday's Landmark Conference title game against Elizabethtown College, who knocked off the University of Scranton in Wednesday's other semifinal, 18-16. 

Lorence finished his first campaign with the River Hawks with two goals, upping his season total to 34, adding a ground ball and caused turnover. Musser and Thomas each finished with seven shots and a goal, and Ted Zaborowski picked up five ground balls while adding an assist. 

Face-off man Ryan Prum was once again strong, winning 14-of-22 draws to post 12 ground balls. Prum finished with a .613 win percentage on face-offs in 2022, the third-best win percentage in school history. His 215 face-off wins this season broke the school record for wins in a campaign, topping the 201 posted by Pierce Mead in 2018. His 111 ground balls this season were third-most in a year. 

First-year Aidan Kennedy finished the game with a team-high three caused turnovers, and Gavin Rossman posted a caused turnover and five ground balls. Charlie Hayes also added three ground balls. The Cardinals posted a slight 49-40 win on shots, while Catholic also edged SU in ground balls, 37-34. Junior Jozef Korpics totaled 10 saves on the game, while Augie Granatelli added one stop in 10:32 of action. 

Crowley finished with five points on three goals and two assists, while Novella totaled three points as well. Sean Baudo chaled up three points on two assists and a tally, while Danny Fitzgibbons netted three goals. Landmark Conference Defensive Player of the Year Tynan Hillery finished with five ground balls and four caused turnovers. 

The River Hawks graduate four seniors in Mike Nevins, Rossman, Logan Frank and Ben Shaffer, but bring back their top seven goal scorers in 2023. 

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