RADNOR, Pa. – In the final Battle of Eagles Road, Eastern University Men's Lacrosse put together a massive second-half rally, but the host Cabrini University Cavaliers scored the final two goals of the game and held on for a 17-13 win. While dominating the faceoff x, Cabrini scored 13 of the first 15 goals of the game. The Eagles closed the gap to two goals at 15-13 and had the ball with eight minutes left, but the Cavaliers forced a turnover and scored back-to-back goals to claim the game. 

For the Eagles, the game could not have started worse. With both teams pumped for the the final match in the rivalry, the Cavalier shooters found the mark early. Though Eastern had a 12-11 edge in first quarter shots, the Eagles did not find the goal until Nick Litzenberger ripped a lower corner with 11 seconds left in the frame. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, hit the crossbar on their first shot and then scored on eight of their next nine attempts. Litzenberger reached 100 career points with the goal. 

Cabrini then scored five of the first six goals of the second quarter. Litzenberger had the only Eastern goal in that run. The Eagles got a little life late on an outside shot from Christopher Fanelli and a strong dodge to the goal from Brennan Kaut to close out the half, but Cabrini still held a 13-4 lead. 

"We needed to be more aggressive," Head Coach Colin Piper said of his team's adjustment for the second half. "We were hesitant to slide early on and their guys were finding corners. We came out in the second half and were a little quicker to get out and trust our help."

The Cavaliers won the opening faceoff of the second half and buried a rebound goal after Ethan Myers made an initial save against Cabrini's veteran faceoff specialist John McCormick. McCormick won 24-of-34 draws and had 17 ground balls. 

Though the Cavaliers scored first, Piper's halftime adjustments started to pay off in the the third. The Eastern offense played faster and finally broke through on a Gavin Stark solo effort with a flag on the ground. Luc Trudel scored a man-up goal, his first of the year, on a pass from Stark, and then Charlie Harrison won a faceoff on violation. 

Connor Bachman scored another goal with a flag on the ground to close the gap to 14-7 with nearly 10 minutes left in the third period. The Eagles did not score on the man-up chance, but Nicholas Fanelli scored his first of three on the day shortly after the teams returned to even strength. 

Cabrini called a timeout and put together a solid extended possession, but the Eastern defense stood its ground and Nicholas Fanelli set up Stark to pull the Eagles to within five goals with five minutes left in the third quarter. Though the Eagles won the next faceoff, they did not convert and it appeared the Cavaliers would be able to milk the clock to close out the third. 

A turnover with less than a minute left, however gave the Eagles a chance. Nicholas Fanelli caught a long pass from Myers to break the Cabrini ride. Nicholas then found Christopher to pull within four with 47 seconds to play int he period. Harrison won another faceoff and Bachman fed Nicholas Fanelli on the crease for a brilliant tap-in goal with 23 seconds to play. In outscoring Cabrini 7-1 in the third, the Eagles had the exact same shot totals, both for and against, that they did in the first. Cabrini finished the game with a very slight 48-43 edge in shots. 

The Cavaliers scored on their opening possession of the fourth, but the Eastern defense put together a strong stand to force a clock violation and Stark put away hit third of the day to bring the Eagles to within three with 11 minutes left. Cabrini goalie Brayden Skipper came up with a strong save against Nicholas Fanelli and the Cavaliers appeared to beat the Eastern 10-man ride with a long shot on goal. Myers made a spectacular athletic play to get back to his goal and make a diving stop. The Eagles pulled to within two goals on Nicholas Faenlli's 20th goal of the year. With his five-point day, Nicholas Fanelli pulls to within six points of 300 for his career. Only two active Division III players have reached that milestone. Jack Boyden, who did his first four years at Tufts and is now playing attack for Virginia, has also reached the 300 point mark. 

Down 15-13, the Eagles forced a turnover, but a tough Cabrini ride forced Eastern back and put the ball on the ground where the Eagles were unable to advance the ball into the attack in 20 seconds. The Cavaliers took advantage with a brilliant behind-the-back effort from Dillon McManus to stop the Eastern run. The Cavaliers won the next faceoff and were able to restore a four-goal edge with six minutes left. 

The Eagles had chances to cut into the lead, but Skipper got some help from a post on a Litzenberger shot and made a couple good late saves to secure the win. 

With Cabrini closing its doors at the end of the year, the Cavaliers will finish with an unblemished mark in the Men's Lacrosse rivalry. Tonight's four-goal loss matches the 16-12 defeat from 2022 as the closest of the two games between the neighboring schools. Eastern played in a PAC Championship game at Cabrini in 2008 and played in the program's first NCAA Tournament game in 2012. Cabrini won the 2019 Division III National Championship. 

\The Eagles will take on another strong opponent on Wednesday when the travel to Stevens Institute of Technology to take on the 15th ranked Ducks.