2017 Men's Lacrosse Championship Photo
David Sinclair
7
Catholic CUA 14-3
12
Winner Elizabethtown ETOWN 14-3
Catholic CUA
14-3
7
Final
12
Elizabethtown ETOWN
14-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Catholic CUA 2 1 4 0 7
Elizabethtown ETOWN 3 5 2 2 12

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

BLUE JAYS WIN 2017 LANDMARK MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP!

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Elizabethtown pulled out to a five-goal lead at halftime and staved off Catholic's second-half surge by shutting out the Cardinals over the final 17:54 to win its first Landmark Men's Lacrosse Championship, 12-7, Saturday afternoon at Wolf Field.

Tournament Most Valuable Player Mike Specht and fellow senior Dan Bednarik had two goals and three assists each, and freshman Mike Scrafano gave the Blue Jays an unexpected lift with his first career hat trick and career-high four points.

Elizabethtown (14-3) bolted out to a 2-0 lead just 2:46 in on goals from Bednarik and Cody Larkin, but it was Bednarik's second goal, at 13:08 of the second quarter, that got the wheels rolling for the Jays.
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2017 Landmark Men's Lacrosse Championship MVP
Mike Specht


Nick Specht followed with a goal, Mike Specht had two --one on a man-up opportunity-- and Scrafano capped a run of five unanswered tallies that left the Blue and Gray with its largest lead of the day, 8-2.

Catholic has been the Blue Jays' postseason kryptonite over the last two seasons. In 2015, the Cardinals (14-3) rallied from an 8-2 halftime deficit to oust Elizabethtown 11-10 in the semifinals; in last year's championship game, Catholic trailed 10-6 in the second half before rallying to the lead and winning 13-12 in overtime.

It was understandable, then, if the Blue Jay faithful were a little on edge when Catholic started to build steam in the third quarter. Landmark Player of the Year, Tim Keith, scored his 40th goal of the season at 12:15 to start a 4-0 run for the visitors that ended with Bennett Bradley's conference-leading 46th marker at 2:54 and had the Cardinals back within two, 9-7.

Scrafano seemed to put the Jays as ease, however, taking a Mike Specht pass and wrapping around the left side of the cage to fire a shot over CUA goalie Jack Schmidt's right shoulder with 38 seconds left in the third.

Elizabethtown clamped down on defense and freshman goalie Tom Mahoney made five of his eight saves on seven Catholic shots as the Blue Jays blanked the Cards in the fourth quarter to secure the program's first league championship in its 16th season of play.

Another rookie, face-off specialist Kyle Pienik, did a stand up job against Matt Michalski, one of the Landmark's best. Pienik won 9 of 21 to help neutralize a Catholic strength after taking 10 of 21 against the Cardinals in last Saturday's regular season finale.

Jeremy Klipple, Jeff Bloom and Luke Stephens each forced a pair of turnovers for E-town, with Klipple recording a team-high five ground balls and Bloom four. Elizabethtown held a commanding 40-26 advantage in ground balls and a slight edge in shots, 35-34.

Larkin had two goals for the Blue Jays and Nick Specht collected two points on a goal and an assist. Joe Clark and Phil Kyger, two of E-town's 14 seniors, scored goals in the second half.

Keith had a pair of goals, two ground balls and two caused turnovers for the two-time defending Landmark champion Cardinals. Elizabethtown limited Catholic's leading goal-scorer, Bradley, to one goal on nine shots and 40-point scorer Victor Licata to one goal on 12 shots. Michalski won 12 of 19 face-offs and was credited with a game-high eight ground balls.

Elizabethtown will now await word on its NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship opponent. The field will be set with a selection show at NCAA.com Sunday night at 9 p.m.
 
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