WASHINGTON – In front of a spirited St. Patrick's
Day crowd, CUA opened its Landmark Conference schedule in style,
downing Merchant Marine Academy 12-2 on Saturday. The
Cardinals led 4-0 after one quarter and never looked back in
winning their seventh game of the season.
Brendan Englert got CUA on the board with a goal at the 8:19 mark
of the first quarter. Tom Scotto assisted on the score.
A little over a minute later, freshman Brian Keith picked up a
ground ball and rifled a shot into the back of the net for a 2-0
Cardinals lead.
CUA added two more goals in the final minute of the quarter with
Englert scoring one and Scotto the other, to give the home team a
4-0 advantage after 15 minutes of play.
Nine seconds into the second quarter, Tyler Catalani took a pass
from Englert and beat Mariners goal keeper Alex Peyreigne for a 5-0
CUA lead.
With 7:04 to play before halftime Drew Saine fed Englert for
another CUA goal and a 6-0 lead.
Just five seconds later, Saxton scored off of a Scotto assist and
the lead was up to seven.
Merchant Marine Academy finally got on the board with 3:32 to play
before halftime when Jeff Harty scored off a feed from Matt
Cowles.
Early in the third quarter, Saxton upped CUA's lead to 8-1
when he found the back of the net off a Catalani assist.
The Mariners answered less than a minute later with a Delaney
Oksman goal, but that proved to be USMMA's final score of the
afternoon.
Catalani closed the quarter out with another Cardinals goal, this
one coming with 27 seconds on the clock to give CUA a 9-2
advantage.
In the final quarter, Justin Schaufler scored twice and Sean
Cummins once to set the final margin at ten for CUA.
CUA finished the game with a 42-29 advantage in shots, including a
16-4 lead in the first quarter. The Cardinals scooped up 44
ground balls, led by Scotto's eight. Scotto also won 9
of 12 face-offs, while Patrick Pfaff sent back 14 shots in goal
before turning things over to Mark Destro.
Peyreigne finished with 17 saves for the visitors, and Vincent
Acquavita led the way with three caused turnovers.
CUA is now off for two weeks before hosting conference newcomer
Washington & Jefferson on Saturday, March 31. The opening
face-off is set for 2:30 p.m.
