CUA advances to championship after downing Susquehanna 3-1 in semis
WASHINGTON – CUA looked every of bit the top seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament on Tuesday, downing Susquehanna 3-1 at home. The Cardinals received two goals from Mike Brennan and a penalty kick from Kevin Romano to advance to their four consecutive conference championship match.
CUA went on top in the 24th minute when Brennan lofted a long shot over Susquehanna's keeper's head into the back of the net for a 1-0 Cardinals lead.
The Crusaders' Joe DeLuca looked to tie the match at the 31:31 mark, but his attempt went high and one minute later the Crusaders were called for offsides, keeping the score 1-0.
At the 39:05 mark, Susquehanna's keeper came out of the box to challenge CUA's Nick Civeti, but Civeti launched a shot towards the goal and it looked as though the Cardinals would take a 2-0 lead before the ball hit off the post.
Romano and Justin Oloriz also had shots for CUA in the closing minutes but were unable to connect, sending the teams into intermission with the Cardinals ahead by one.
Early in the second Brennan put the Cardinals in front 2-0 when he took a feed from Brian Maher and rifled a shot into the back of the net for his second score of the afternoon.
Several minutes later Joe Taylor got off a shot for the Cardinals, but it went wide, while Earl Hamilton's shot soon after was high.
Andrew Hayes' shot at the 59:25 mark for Susquehanna was wide, while Andrew Murphy's attempt five minutes later was saved by CUA keeper Torsten Meuschke.
At the 67:27 mark the Crusaders were whistled for a foul and Romano knocked the ensuing penalty kick into the back of the net for a 3-0 Cardinals advantage.
With just over ten minutes remaining Hayes scored for the Crusaders to cut the Cardinals lead to two.
Five minutes later the Crusaders nearly struck again when Brandon Kates hit the post with his attempt, but no damage was done and CUA earned its seventh win at home this season.
The teams finished with 14 shots apiece, while Susquehanna was awarded seven of the eight corner kicks. Meuschke and Crusaders keeper Pat Horan stopped four shots each during the course of the match.
After winning the last two conference titles, CUA will look for the three-peat on Saturday at home.
CUA will now take on the winner of the Drew – Merchant Marine Academy semifinal on Saturday at CUA Soccer Field at a time to be announced. The Drew-USMMA match will be played on Wednesday evening.
