(box score)
Widener scored five straight goals bridging both halves and held on down the stretch for its third straight one-goal victory to close the season, 12-11 over Middle Atlantic Conference foe Alvernia at Edith R. Dixon Field.
Senior Calina Walz (Medford, NJ) and junior Jen Harnden (Hershey, PA) each scored twice during the spurt and sophomore Alex Taratuski (Ambler, PA) netted one to give Widener a 9-6 lead with 26:20 remaining. Taratuski's marker was a huge one as it leveled the score at 6-6 with 4.6 seconds to go in the opening half.
The Crusaders tallied the next three goals for a 9-9 deadlock with 12:37 left. Sarah George, Heather Coppola and Felicia Sippel all scored in that span.
After the teams traded goals, sophomore Julia Costello (Brookhaven, PA) scored to give Widener the lead for good at 11-10 with 8:17 left. Freshman Amy Albano (Columbia, MD) made it a two-goal margin for the Pride with 1:56 to play.
Nora Walsh scored for the Crusaders with 1:44 remaining for a 12-11 contest and Samantha Landis won the draw control. From there, Widener's defense took over and could not be breached. Alvernia had four shots after that, but the victory was punctuated in the final 10 seconds when Sippel had her shot saved by junior Linda Salcedo (Media, PA).
Walz played great with four goals, two assists, four draw controls and three caused turnovers in her final game for the Pride (9-8, 6-6 MAC). Harnden scored three goals, Taratuski netted two and Salcedo made 10 saves.
Sippel, Walsh, George and Allison Bainbridge all scored twice and Jennifer Czarnecki made 11 saves for Alvernia (10-6, 7-5).
