COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. (March 19, 2016) – The Widener University men's lacrosse team dropped a non-conference game to Ursinus by a 16-9 score on Saturday afternoon at Patterson Field.
 
Ursinus (5-1), which led the entire contest, got off to a fast start by scoring seven of the game's eight goals in the first quarter and never looked back. Steve Mussoline completed a hat trick by scoring three of the Bears' opening four goals in a span of 8:47 before Sam Isola finished a pass from Gerard Brown to make it 7-1 at the end of the first frame.
 
Widener chipped away at the deficit and cut the margin down to four, as senior Kyle Gratz (Worthington, Ohio) and freshman Shane Taylor (Philadelphia, Pa.) opened up the second quarter with back-to-back goals. The hosts, however, answered with another hot streak and netted five unanswered to take a commanding 12-3 advantage at recess.
 
The Pride outscored the Bears in the second half and most notably had three players net goals to bring make it 12-6, which was capped by another Gratz marker at the 12:13 mark. But Ursinus' Logan Panaccione netted two goals before the end of the quarter, giving the hosts insurance to hang on for the victory.
 
Mussoline paced the Ursinus attack by scoring five goals and tallying two assists. Patrick O'Donoghue and Anthony Torello each caused three turnovers on the defensive end, and USILA All-America netminder Brian Neff made eight saves.
 
Senior Tim Taylor (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Gratz each netted a hat trick to lead the way for Widener, which was outshot by a 44-28 margin in the contest. Freshman Matt Horton (Emmaus, Pa.) turned away nine shots in an impressive relief appearance between the pipes.
 
Widener (1-4) will wrap up non-conference action when it hosts nationally-ranked Gettysburg on Wednesday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m.