WASHINGTON, D.C. – Catholic men's lacrosse is moving on to the Landmark Conference Semifinals after defeating Moravian in the First Round, 12-9. The Cardinals took a 7-3 lead into the halftime break and successfully squandered a comeback effort from the Greyhounds to secure their sixth consecutive appearance in a second round game.

Catholic scored back-to-back goals just over two minutes in to claim an early 2-0 lead. Billy Burton struck first off a Ryan Carickhoff assist before the roles reversed and Carickoff found the back of the net on a pass from Burton. Moravian cut the deficit to one with 11:57 on the clock, but the Cardinals responded right back with a Matt Ford goal assisted by Logan Farrington. Seven minutes ran off the clock prior to both sides each adding another. Victor Rosado wrapped up the quarter for the Cardinals with his 34th goal of the season and Burton got the helper for his third point of the game. 

Moravian kept the game close to start the second quarter with a goal from Aaron Judge at the 13:44 mark. He would finish the game with a team leading four goals, joining Rosado as the game's leading scorers. Catholic followed with three unanswered as Carickhoff, Ford and Burton each got their second with Rosado, Fitz McLaughlin, and Mason Russo tallying assists.

Both sides took 21 shots and were 1-1 on extra-man opportunities in the first half. Catholic held a slight edge in the ground ball race with 21 to Moravian's 19.

Scoring slowed in the third quarter as each side only saw one shot cross the goal line. Steven Dezelic entered the scoring column with his 25th of the season. Mike Tayloe recorded one of his three caused turnovers in this span as Catholic ramped up its defense and forced Moravian to fail two of its seven clear attempts. 

The fourth quarter was determined by strong runs from both teams. After Moravian scored one with 9:15 remaining and Rosado canceled it out with his second of the day 50 seconds later, the Greyhounds surged to score four unanswered to tie the game at nine apiece. An unreleaseable penalty forced two of those goals to come on extra-man opportunities. With 4:39 on the clock, a timely caused turnover by Zach Gibson shifted the momentum back in favor of the Cardinals as they closed out the contest with three goals in the final 2:31. Carickoff picked up another goal off a Cullen Lotz assist before Rosado sealed the victory with two more of his own, one of which was assisted by Burton. 

Rosado, Carickhoff and Burton all finished with five points. Ryan Macksoud was the only player to scoop up more than six ground balls, finishing with a game high of 11. He also dominated the face off, winning 14-of-23. 

Liam Daly played the entire 60 minutes in goal for Catholic. He made 11 saves, five of which came in the second quarter, to pick up his seventh win of the season. 

Catholic will continue postseason play on Thursday, May 1 as they travel to Scranton for a Landmark Conference Semifinal contest.