Jack Myers at DeSales 2/17/18
Pat Jacoby
7
Elizabethtown ETOWN 3-1
8
Winner Christopher Newport CNU 6-0
Elizabethtown ETOWN
3-1
7
Final
8
Christopher Newport CNU
6-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Elizabethtown ETOWN 3 2 1 1 7
Christopher Newport CNU 1 2 2 3 8

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Late goal from No. 20 CNU deals men's lacrosse first loss

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Elizabethtown College men's lacrosse team came within 12 minutes of knocking off 20th-ranked Christopher Newport Friday night, but the host Captains scored a pair of man-up goals in the fourth, including the game-winner with 5:13 to go, to escape with an 8-7 win.

Jack Myers made a number of sensational saves throughout the game and had five in the fourth quarter when the Blue Jays tried to protect leads of 6-5 and 7-6.

Christopher Newport (6-0) didn't take its first lead until Matthew Crist completed a hat trick with a man-up goal late in the fourth, and though Elizabethtown had chances down the stretch, it couldn't get back on even footing.

Scott Nizolak, who gave the Jays a 7-6 lead with his seventh goal of the season at the 12:20 mark of the fourth, had a shot stopped by Captains' goalie Scott McAneney with 54 seconds left.

CNU was content to try and run out the clock, but Myers came out of his crease to intercept an unsuspecting pass from Jackson Deal with half a minute to play.

The Blue Jays never made a final push down the field, however, as an errant pass ended their upset bid.

Elizabethtown came out fired up. Freshman Brandon Sankey scored at 11:08 of the first and sophomore Mike Scrafano made it 2-0 at 9:45.

Drew Magnusson put CNU on the board with his first of three goals at 1:11, but right before the end of the quarter Mike DiGenova responded to restore E-town's two-goal advantage.

Magnusson single-handedly tried to keep pace with the Jays' attack, sandwiching second quarter goals around DiGenova's second.

Elizabethtown took a 5-3 lead to the break when a pair of rookies hooked up with the man-advantage. Thomas Palen scored his first career goal with 2:18 to go off a pass from James Kelly.

The Captains scored two in a row in the third and held the Blue and Gray scoreless until Griffin Liebsch found a gap in the middle of the field and raced in to beat McAneney at 3:19 for a 6-5 lead.

After Nizolak had given the Jays a 7-6 lead with 12:20 to go, Crist knotted the score for the hosts at 7:12. Two minutes later, he gave CNU its only lead of the game with the eventual game-winner.

Myers made huge saves on Crist and Magnusson in the final four minutes to keep the Jays within a goal.

Elizabethtown's defense, led by Jeff Bloom's three caused turnovers and three ground balls, made life difficult on the Captains' offense for much of the evening. CNU had a 21-16 edge in shots through three quarters, but found the Blue Jays tough to crack. They finally started to have their way in the fourth, outshooting E-town 17-4.

Face-off specialist Kyle Pienik won 8-of-18 for the Blue Jays. Despite each team turning the ball over 21 times, the Captains were cleaner in transition going 13-of-15 on clears to E-town's 17-of-24.

Elizabethtown will remain in Virginia until Sunday when it faces head coach Chris Perzinski's alma mater, Lynchburg, at 1 p.m.
 
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