No. 9 Cavs fall in overtime to undefeated Gettysburg

cabrini athletic department

It was a battle of the unbeatens. The ninth-ranked Cabrini men’s lacrosse team hosted the No. 2 Gettysburg Bullets Wednesday, March 19 in an intense match-up. The Cavaliers entered the game with an overall record of 4-0 while the Bullets maintained a record of 5-0.

Despite the pouring rain, the game was one to keep the fans into it until the very end.

Cabrini came out strong and scored two goals early to take the lead. Senior Pat Jenkins scored the first goal, which was assisted by junior B.J. Kletchek while sophomore Casey Grugan assisted junior Matt Conaway for the second. Gettysburg responded by tying the game with two goals in the end of the first period.

In the second period, senior Matt McKinney scored for the Cavaliers followed by a third goal for Gettysburg. Cabrini sophomore Rich Romanelli answered with a goal, but Gettysburg would then get two more. With time winding down, sophomore Casey Grugan tied the game back up at 5-5 right before halftime by scoring with exactly one second left on the clock.

Gettysburg started the scoring in the second half by netting a goal just over four minutes into the third period. Cabrini responded quickly with Romanelli notching his second goal of the game only seconds later. He would get his third goal of the game and Gettysburg scored two more by the end of the third period.

The Cavaliers scored the only goal in the fourth period, which was by Grugan who would tie the game at 8-8. The goal was assisted by junior Mike Dolente and it took the two teams into overtime.

After each team had possessions on offense, Gettysburg ended the game in a sudden-death first goal victory by scoring with 32 seconds remaining in the overtime. The loss brings the Cavaliers to an overall record of 4-1 while the Bullets remain undefeated at 6-0.

“We prepared a lot for the game and we knew everything they were going to throw at us. As for them ranked in front of us, it did not make a difference. We got beat 2-13 last year and this year we wanted to make a statement that we are ‘legit’ and that it wasn’t going to be like 2007,” McKinney, a senior English and communication major, said.

Even though the Cavaliers did not come out on top, they took a lot away from the game. They have high expectations of what is to come of the rest of the season.

“We gained a lot of confidence from this loss because now we know we can play with anyone in the country regardless of rank and that is going to help us down the road in the NCAAs,” McKinney said. “Our goals are always the same; to win the PAC and go far into the NCAA tournament and win that too.”