By Peter Vassilakos
The Susquehanna River Hawks welcomed the Catholic Cardinals to Sassafras field for both teams’ second conference game of the season. The River Hawks are coming off a three-game winning streak, the most recent win a 19-5 against Gwyned Mercy.
This game started off a lot different than Wednesday’s affair with Catholic scoring first, jumping to a 2-0 lead with two minutes gone on the clock. Things looked bleak for the River Hawks with Steven Musser picking up a holding penalty, putting the Hawks a player down.
The Hawks’ defense fought, and senior Ted Zaborowski flew down the field with the ball, passing it to Brennan Lorence, who scored, cutting the lead in half. Lorence soon scored again.
Both teams traded a few goals back and forth until Catholic closed the first half with a two-goal lead. The Cardinals came out of the break firing on all cylinders with a huge third quarter. They outscored the River Hawks 5-0 in the third quarter, giving them an 11-4 lead going into the last quarter.
Lorence began the fourth quarter scoring for both teams on a man-up opportunity, only to spark another 5-0 run for the Cardinals. The lead increased to 16-5. The River Hawks kept fighting until the final whistle, scoring four goals in the final 60 seconds of the quarter. The gap closed to 16-9 on the day. The Cardinals took the victory, pushing the River Hawks to 1-1 in conference play.
The River Hawks travel to Elizabethtown next weekend, looking to bounce back from the devastating loss and get back above .500 in conference play.