Men's Lacrosse Team to Visit Eastern on Saturday For a Trip to the NCAA Tournament

A berth in the NCAA Tournament is at stake Saturday when Commonwealth Conference champion Widener battles Freedom Conference winner Eastern.

Face-off in St. Davids, PA is 1:00 pm. This will be the teams first meeting in a conference tournament since the Pride (9-7, 5-1 CC) notched a 10-7 home victory in the first round of the 2009 Middle Atlantic Conference Tournament. Widener is seeking its 10th trip to the NCAA Tournament.

This is the first year the MAC was broken up into two conferences. Eastern (12-4, 5-0 FC) won the Freedom Conference on Thursday with a 15-6 triumph over FDU-Florham.

Widener won its 14th conference title (the first 13 were in the MAC) with Thursday's 7-5 triumph at top-seeded Albright. Sophomore Robert Clemens (Aston, PA) had two goals and two assists, freshman Kyle Blakemore (Ridley Park, PA) recorded two and one and sophomore Mac Nestler (Chatham, NJ) made six saves for the Pride, who have won seven straight.

The Pride erased a five-goal, first-half deficit by owning a 43-18 shots edge that included 19-8 in the second half. The Lions entered the game with 102 second-half goals in 18 contests.

Widener improved to 24-3 in conference-tournament games and is 10-1 in its last 11 tournament contests on the road. The Pride opened the tournament with a 17-7 win over third-seeded Lycoming in the semifinals.

The Pride this season have been a strong offensive team with 171 goals, including 79 over six league games. One of the keys has been junior Josh Fox (Wynnewood, PA), a first team All-MAC selection from last year who is fourth with 35 goals and eighth with 40 points. Junior Johnny Casey (Glenside, PA), a first team all-league pick in 2011, is second on the team with 28 goals and Clemens is second in the conference with 30 assists.

Junior Charlie Bytheway (Glen Mills, PA) has been a force at long-stick midfield, leading the squad with 29 caused turnovers and sitting second with 62 ground balls. Nestler, picked Honorable Mention All-MAC last year, is 8-3 with a .546 save percentage.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for students and free for children under age six.

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