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Senior All-America captain Mac Nestler (Chatham, NJ) made 19 saves for Widener in a hard-fought 9-7 loss to #2 Stevenson on Wednesday night in Owings Mills, MD.
The only two undefeated teams in the Commonwealth Conference, both teams knew that whoever won tonight's game likely would be in the driver's seat for the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
With three minutes remaining, Widener (7-5, 5-1 CC) remained tied, 7-7. Two late goals from Stevenson's Colin Dabney put the game out of reach, but Widener proved that t could play with the best Division III had to offer.
Nestler made 19 saves to bring his season total to 112. Only once this season has Stevenson been held to fewer than nine goals. Nestler held the Mustangs to nine goals on 55 shots.
Stevenson (13-1, 6-0) scored three minutes into the contest, but Widener evened the score one minute later when sophomore Tim Taylor (Philadelphia, PA) scored his 18th goal of the season. Taylor finished with one goal, three assists and four ground balls.
Stevenson led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter, but Widener freshman Nick Striebich (Ellicott City, MD) scored the only two goals in the second quarter to even the contest going into halftime. Striebich scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season with both assists coming from Taylor.
Carrying that momentum into the second half, Widener took its first lead of the contest at 9:23 in the third quarter off a shot from junior Kyle Blakemore (Ridley Park, PA). The lead would not last long as 20 seconds later, Stevenson's Stephen Banick tied the score at 4-4.
The Pride fought back to take a two-goal lead when sophomore Marc LaVine (Nashua, NH) netted two unassisted goals in a row, his 17th and 18th goals of the year. The Mustangs again tied the game with one period to be played.
Only 35 seconds into the fourth quarter with the score tied at 6-6, freshman Tyler Schulte (Southhampton, NJ) fired a shot from the left side to give the Pride their third lead of the contest. Schulte managed three shots, one goal and team-leading five ground balls in the contest.
Stevenson fought back to score the next three goals and steal away the potential upset from Widener. Stevenson remains in first place in the conference as Widener falls to second with two regular season games remaining in the regular season.
Widener looks to remain in second place in the conference on Tuesday at Lebanon Valley, beginning at 7:00 pm.
