SCRANTON, Pa. - The Catholic men's lacrosse team traveled to their first championship since 2022, taking on top-seeded Scranton at Weiss Field. The Cardinals held strong in the nailbiter, but were unable to overcome the Royals, falling 9-7.
The Royals struck first, with a goal from Chase Ritcey in the fourth minute of play.
Alejandro Masferrer quickly responded, scoring off a feed from
Will Gilfillan to put Catholic on the board. Gilfillan then added his own goal to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game. Scranton capped the quarter with the equalizer from Cooper Roberts.
The Cardinals regained their lead in quarter two with a goal from
Ryan Carickhoff, who scored off a swift pass from
Chris McCabe. Catholic kept looking for opportunities recording nine shots after Carickhoff netted one.
With less than three minutes remaining in the half, Jason Kozak found the back of the net for Scranton, to even the score at three. They quickly added another to take the lead. Catholic maintained composure, looking for more chances to score. Both teams had 10 shots in the second quarter, but the Royals outscored the Cardinals as they snuck a third goal past
Colton Manorek, who recorded 13 saves in the first half alone. The game was evenly-matched in the first half, Scranton with 22 shots and Catholic with 19 and both teams winning five faceoffs apiece. The Cardinal defense was strong, with seven caused turnovers in the first half, but they trailed 5-3 heading into the break.
Ritcey opened the scoring in the second half, scoring his second goal in favor of the Royals to extend their lead to three. Carickhoff then scored his second to cut Catholic's deficit to two. The Cardinals then won the faceoff, and seconds later
Steven Dezelic scored another to narrow the gap to one. After going nearly scoreless in the third, the Royals added two more in a quick succession, and the Cardinals trailed 8-5 heading into the fourth.
Scranton scored early in the final, but Catholic answered with a goal from
Finn Smith, who scored off a smooth pass from
Burke Healy to keep the Cardinals within reach. They continued to work towards taking back the lead, with another goal from Gilfillan.
Although Catholic outscored Scranton in the final quarter, netting two while holding them to just one, the Royals maintained their lead, winning 9-7.
Gilfillan and Carickhoff led the squad with two goals apiece, while Gilfillan had an assist to total three points.
Zach Gibson and
Jake McGowan played crucial roles on the Catholic defense, each notching two caused turnovers, Gibson with five ground balls and McGowan with four.
At the faceoff X,
Jack Suchanek and
Connor Baia teamed up for a great day at Weiss Field, Suchanek going 7-10 on the day, while Baia went 6-10. Baia closes out the season with a faceoff percentage of .720, while Suchanek follows at .685.
In goal, Manorek had another stellar day, notching 19 saves, the third-highest of his sophomore season. He finishes the season with 183 total saves.
Catholic concludes its 2026 season with an overall record of 13-6, going 8-1 in Landmark play.
