Men's Lacrosse Wins 11th Middle Atlantic Conference Title And Fourth Straight, 10-6 at Messiah

(boxscore)

5/3/08 -- Third-seeded Widener in the fourth quarter used the combination of timely offense and stingy defense to win its 11th Middle Atlantic Conference title, 10-6 at No. 1 seed Messiah in Grantham, PA.

Widener's fourth straight crown, all against Messiah, improved it to 15-2 in MAC Tournament games and 9-0 in finals with no title contest held for the first two championships. The Pride (10-7) are in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in school history and on Sunday will find out who and where they play in Wednesday's first-round game.

Sunday's announcement will be televised at 7:30 pm on CBS College Sports.

With the game tied 4-4 entering the fourth quarter, sophomore Cory Malampy (Ridley, PA) and senior Clint Quedenfeld (Chalfont, PA) scored less than two minutes apart to give Widener a 6-4 cushion with 10:48 left.

After Hamilton Anderson tallied for Messiah (11-6), Quedenfeld and senior Luke Weber scored to give the Pride an 8-5 lead with 5:56 remaining. John Murdock found the back of the net for the Falcons with 3:55 to go for an 8-6 game, but Weber and senior Chris Matthews (Drexel Hill, PA) scored for the final margin.

Senior Tim Collins (Yorktown Heights, NY) made four saves in the fourth quarter and limited Messiah to two goals in that run, helping him to be named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. He closed with 12 saves overall and 18 for the tournament.

Senior Brian Stromko (Maplewood, NJ) scored three times with Weber, Matthews and Quedenfeld netting a pair for Widener, which closed with a 45-37 shots edge.

Conference Player of the Year Nick Ricucci was held to just two goals and six shots for the Falcons.

After winning at second-seeded Lycoming in the semifinals, this marks the second straight year Widener won two road games in the tournament. Last season, the Pride won at Elizabethtown and Messiah.

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