WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Elizabethtown College men's lacrosse team could not hold off a second half surge by Catholic, falling to the Cardinals, 16-8, in the Landmark Conference Championship Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, the Blue Jays finish the season 11-7, while Catholic moves onto the NCAA Tournament with a 13-4 record. 

Senior Alex Kilgour paced the Etown offense, finishing with three goals. Classmate Nick Cost tallied two assists becoming only the second player in program history to record 100 assists for their career. The Devon, Pa. native finishes his career with 101 helpers, second only to Aaron Weber's '10 108. Junior Riley Langen recorded three points with a goal and two assists.

Senior Kevin Crowley led the Cardinals' offense with a game-high six points on four goals and two assists.

The Blue Jays slowly built a two goal lead in the opening period, starting with a goal from Kilgour followed by a strike from sophomore Derek Baldwin with 4:30 remaining in the first quarter. Catholic managed to get one back before Cost connected with Kilgour for his second of the game, pushing Etown's advantage back to two (3-1) heading into the second. 

At the start of the second period, the Blue Jays increased its lead to 4-1 as junior Colin Cummings hit Langen with a quick pass for the goal with 13:05 on the clock. The two teams traded goals before the Cardinals got the final tally of the period, making the halftime score 6-4. 

After a goal by Catholic made it 6-5 at the start of the second half, Etown answered as Cummings rifled one home to give the Blue Jays the 7-5 lead with 9:27 on the clock. The Cardinals, however, would snatch the momentum through the rest of the quarter, rattling off six unanswered goals to end the period with an 11-7 advantage.

Etown would cut the deficit to three (11-8) behind a goal from sophomore Gavin Gismondi, but that is as close as the Blue Jays would get, as Catholic scored the final five goals of the game to seal its second consecutive Landmark Conference Championship, 16-8.

Sophomore Brayden Franey (10-6) made 13 saves on 49 shots faced, while junior Nic Pezone (13-4) had a game-high 19 saves on 50 shots in the winning effort.

Sophomore Connor Stewart collected a career-high eight ground balls and classmate Gavin Gismondi had a team-high two caused turnovers. 

Elizabethtown returns 29 players to a program that has reached five consecutive Landmark Conference Championship. Thanks you seniors Wes Mills, Owen Yake, Ben O'Connor, Micah Ballew, Danny Gilbert John Talbott, Nick Cost, Parker Tribble, Alex Kilgour, and Phil Rueter for your dedication to the Elizabethtown College men's lacrosse program. Good luck with your future endeavors.