Salesianum gains revenge on Cape Henlopen in DIAA Boys Lacrosse final

DOVER – May 27, 2021, was a very special date on Salesianum’s lacrosse calendar.

After almost two years of waiting, it was the next time the Sals would have a chance to defeat Cape Henlopen in the championship game of the DIAA Boys Lacrosse Tournament.

Sallies unleashed that pent-up frustration at Dover High on Thursday night, building a big early lead, withstanding the Vikings’ charge and surging again late to swing the rivalry back to their side with a 12-10 victory.

Ironically, that was the same score as Cape’s last title-game win over the Sals, on June 6, 2019, at Caesar Rodney. Both teams have been stewing ever since, after being forced to take last year off due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We were confident the whole game we’d come out on top,” said senior Dylan Mooney, who scored the last two goals for Sallies. “We worked hard all season. Ever since 2019 when we lost, we circled this date and we got it done.”

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The second-seeded Sals (14-3) came out on fire, winning the first eight faceoffs and screaming to a 6-1 lead on three goals by Caelan Driggs, two by Rowyn Nurry and one by Griffin McGovern.

But the fifth-seeded Vikings (13-5) gradually found their footing. Cape also trailed No. 1 Sanford 6-1 in the semifinals, rallied to an 8-8 tie at halftime and went on to win 16-15.

It took a little longer this time, but Cape closed the gap to 7-4 at the half, then got goals from Mikey Frederick, Blake Gipko and Hank D’Ambrogi in the third quarter to head into the final 12 minutes tied at 7.

“Unfortunately for us, we do it to ourselves,” Vikings coach Mark D’Ambrogi said. “We had a few games this year where we got behind. But we don’t count ourselves out, and that’s a great characteristic.”

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The teams exchanged goals to tie again before the Sals’ Matt Riley went on another streak of winning faceoffs. Riley scored his only goal and Colby Bushweller streaked from left to right for another one to make it 10-8 with 8:02 to play.

“We just had to keep grinding, not let it get to us,” Driggs said.

Then Sallies slowed the pace and spread out its offense. Mooney twice sneaked in from behind and found the net to push the Sals’ advantage to 12-8 with 3:51 remaining.

“We just played hard,” Salesianum coach Bob Healy said. “We were tough for four quarters. They battled back, and we knew they would. We knew it was going to be a war.”

The Vikings fired a final salvo, with Hank D’Ambrogi scoring at the 2:04 mark and Gabe Best firing one home with 1:02 to go.

“We knew when we got the ball, we couldn’t be careless with it,” Mark D’Ambrogi said. “We took really good advantage of those opportunities. I thought we shot the ball well. It was just a matter of us not having the ball enough.”

Cape got the ball again and called timeout with 52 seconds left, then managed three more shots. But none could find the mark, and the Sals’ celebration was on.

“Two years ago was tough. Seeing those seniors not go out with a win was rough,” said Driggs, who led all scorers with four goals. “And then last year, when the seniors didn’t get a chance, this is for them. It’s huge.”

Jaden Davis scored three goals for Cape, and Hank D’Ambrogi scored twice.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ