ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - The Catholic men's lacrosse season came to a close on Thursday evening as the Cardinals fell to top-seeded Elizabethtown in the Landmark Conference Semifinals. The Cardinals led 4-1 in the second quarter before the Blue Jays turned it up a notch to pull away with a 17-8 victory. Catholic will finish with a winning record (10-9) in the first season under head coach Peter Donley. 

Seven different players scored for Catholic in the losing effort with a pair of John Hadden goals leading the way. Tyler Merchant made 10 saves in the loss while Sam Pikul and Zach Gibson each caused two turnovers for Catholic. Mike Tayloe had a team-high five ground balls for the Cardinals. 

Hadden scored the first goal of the contest with 12:48 remaining in the first quarter, finishing off a Fitz McLaughlin assist. Less than a minute later, Matt Shandley put the Cardinals ahead 2-0 as Victor Rosado handed out an assist to get the Cardinals off to a strong start. At the 9:01 mark, Bailey Wallace contributed a man-up goal to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead as Steven Dezelic handed out the assist. Merchant made two first quarter saves as Catholic led 3-0 after the first 15 minutes. 

Liam Hill scored with 11:08 remaining in the first half to push the Cardinals ahead 4-1, but Elizabethtown would go on to score three straight to tie the game with 5:19 left. but Mason Russo found Zach Gibson on the break as he put a long pole goal past Brayden Franey to put the Cardinals back in the lead. ETown would score three straight to take a two-goal lead into halftime. 

The Blue Jays would go on to outscore Catholic 10-3 in the second half to secure its spot in the Landmark Championship game against Scranton.