CARLISLE, Pa. - The Dickinson men's lacrosse team continued its strong start to the 2022 season by riding a 7-2 lead after three quarters to a hard-fought 9-7 win over tenth-ranked Cabrini University on Saturday afternoon at Biddle Field. 

Dickinson keeper Chris Brandau was tested early by Dillon McManus, but was up to the task. That led to a transition opportunity that was finished off by Matt Thurston for his first of the day. Cabrini recorded six of the next eight shots eventually breaking through thanks to Tommy Vaughan. Brandau almost helped himself out with six minutes to go when he let a shot fly from his own crease, but Matt Nestler made a spectacular diving save across his goal-line to keep the ball out. However, Dickinson would reclaim the lead a minute later as Skyler Schluter buried a pass from Ethan Gess with a man advantage. Thurston made it 3-1 to end the first when he put away a shot on a dish by Owen Porter.

The Cavaliers had four of the opening six shots in the second with each goalie having to make on save. Dickinson would be unable to take advantage of a man-up opportunity after Kyle Kutyla sat for a minute due to a slash. Right as the penalty expired Brandau was called on again to turn aside Evan Trizonis. Will Farrell tried to get the first goal of the quarter for either side with 6:39 left, but Nestler continued to stand in the Devils way. After Brandau made yet another save denying Brad Rauner he collected the groundball and found Schluter who fired the rock into the cage for the 4-1 halftime lead. 

An early slash on Zack Kaut led to Dickinson tallying another man-up goal with Schluter finding his favorite running mate Thurston to extend the margin to 5-1. Off the ensuing faceoff win by John McKee, the Red and White looked to add on with Porter forcing two stops from Nestler before Schluter hit the net to make it 6-1 still with 12:57 to play in the third. Both sides had chances over the next seven minutes, but neither team could score until the 10:59 mark when Vaughan beat the Brandau wall. Dickinson won the next faceoff and went on a prolonged offensive assault as Griffin Moore, Porter, and Thurston all let shots fly in a 30-second span before Moore pinged the top-corner for the 7-2 edge heading to the fourth.

Cabrini found the first marker of the final period with 1:36 gone when Jake Schneider took advantage of a Brandau rebound off a save on Logan Cleary to trim the margin to 7-3. The Devils would return the favor three minutes later with Porter depositing a rebound off a Thurston shot to the back of the cage. The Cavaliers then scored the next two goals thanks to Max Drift to cut the deficit down to 8-5 still with half the quarter left. A faceoff violation by the visitors led to the ninth goal of the day for the Red and White with Gess setting up Tucker Booth for the finish. However, the Cavaliers won the next two faceoffs and made them count with Mikey Vanaman besting Brandau twice to make it 9-7 with 5:31 to play. Brandau settled down and sealed the win for the Devils with three more saves to preserve the win. 

Red Devil Leaders

Goals - Schluter and Thurston (3)

Assists - Gess (2)

Groundballs - Brandau (8), McKee, Porter, and Thurston (4)

Saves - Brandau (14)

Cavalier Leaders

Goals - Drift, Vanaman, and Vaughan (2)

Assists - McManus (2)

Groundballs - Trizonis (6), Peter Hewitt (4)

Saves - Nestler (15)

Up Next

Dickinson (4-0) will look to stay unbeaten on Wednesday night when they host Elizabethtown College under the lights at 7 p.m.