Men’s Lax Wins Second Straight Game Over Marymount

By Jared Prenda

The Catholic University of America men’s lacrosse picked up its third win of the season, 12-10, over the nearby Marymount Saints. The team is now 3-2 on the year after the Wednesday, February 27 road win in Arlington, Va. The team has rattled of two straight wins following a tight 11-9 home win over Arcadia.  

Catholic surrendered the first goal of the matchup halfway through the first quarter when Marymount attacker Clark Akers found the back of the net unassisted. Less than a minute later, CUA equalized the score on an unassisted goal from freshman attacker Joey Rockovich. This would start a 4-0 run for Catholic, with Rockovich scoring a hat trick by the start of the second quarter. After, Rockovich’s goals, the Cardinals had a very quiet end to the half, surrendering two goals to make it a 4-3 game at the break.

The freshman from Doylestown, Pa. has had a spectacular rookie campaign through his first five games. Rockovich has scored nine goals, the second highest on the team, and has started every game this season. He would end the game with four goals on six shots, five of which were on goal.

The Birds got off to a quick start in the third quarter, with Nick Fanelli and Ben Karthus scoring back to back goals to extend the teams lead to three, 6-3. The rest of the quarter would be dominated by the Saint, who would score four unanswered goals looking like the team would take a 7-6 in the final quarter. However, junior attacker Vince Catenacci managed to find the back of the net for the first time in the game to level things 7-7 with only 3-seconds remaining in the period.

The fourth quarter was an old-fashioned shootout as the two sides combined to score nine goals. Freshman Fanelli once again started things for the Cards as he scored his second goal, and eventual game winner, to give the team an 8-7 lead early in the final period. Cantenacci followed this with his second of the game less than a minute later to expand the lead to two. CUA would hold onto to the lead for the rest of the game as the two sides traded goals until the final score of 12-10 was reached.

Catenacci and Rockovich were not the only highlights for the team despite their hat tricks. Fanelli, an attacker/midfielder, recorded two goals in the game while juniors Brendan Leniw and Mark Tocchio contributed two assists each.

The Cardinals continue their three-game road stretch as they travel to St. Mary’s City, Maryland to play St. Mary’s College this Saturday. The Seahawk’s are 2-2 on the season, including a 9-5 loss to Landmark Conference member Elizabethtown. The beginning of Landmark play is still a month away, but this game will be an early indicator of where Catholic will stack up compared to their conference rivals.