WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For the first time since 2015, the Elizabethtown College men's lacrosse team will not appear in the Landmark Conference Championship after falling at Catholic in the semifinal round, 19-11.
Reese Levinson posted four goals and three assists for the Blue Jays in the loss.
The face-off battle was going to be a key in the game for Elizabethtown. The Cardinals won 27 in the regular season compared to just three for Etown, which all came in the first quarter. Wednesday's game didn't start off much better for the Jays as Catholic won 12 of the 15 in the first half.
The Cardinals got out 4-0 in the first quarter before
Jay Rodriguez scored in transition for the Blue Jays.
Ben Zaitz made one of his 10 saves in the game, got the ball out to
Evan Youndt in transition. The junior drove the ball down the middle and passed off to Rodriguez, who finished off the play with his first of four goals. It was Etown's lone goal of the quarter as Catholic led 7-1 after one.
Down 9-2, Rodriguez took a
Reese Levinson pass and scored a man-up. Elizabethtown would finish the game 4-for-6 on the extra man opportunities, which ties for the sixth-most in a single game in team history. It was their most man-up goals since scoring five twice in the 2022 season. Rodriguez scored again with 2:01 left in the half. That came after Zaitz picked off a pass and got Elizabethtown going to other way.
Catholic led 9-4 at half.
Etown took the opening face-off and converted it into a goal to start off the third quarter as Levinson set up
Casey Lamey for the goal, a third consecutive for the Jays. Rodriguez made it a three-goal game with his fourth of the evening, bringing the score to 9-6.
While the Blue Jays were able to win the second half face-off battle, 11-7, Cardinals' goalie Colton Manorek picked the right game for a season-high in saves. Elizabethtown was able to outshoot Catholic on their home field, but Manorek was up to the challenge making 21 saves in the game.
The Jays were as close as three in the quarter, but Catholic stretched it back to seven by the end, 14-7.
Brent Wehland fed Levinson for his first of two man-up goals in the game.
Logan Rolles' hustle led to
Tristan Coleman's goal in the fourth. Off the face-off, Rolles saved the ball from going out of bounds, keeping the ball alive as the Cardinals knocked it out of bounds to give EC possession. Coleman would later score to make it 15-8.
Levinson recorded another hat trick, driving right and ripping a shot past Manorek for his third of the night. The recently named Second Team attacker scored his second extra man goal of the game later in the game. Wehland provided the team's fourth man-up goal and his first and only of the game. The senior, also an All-Landmark Conference honoree, added two assists.
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