GRANTHAM, Pa. (Apr. 16, 2016) – The Widener University men's lacrosse team dropped its first Middle Atlantic Commonwealth contest to Messiah by a 10-5 score on Saturday afternoon at the Starry Athletic Complex.
 
Messiah (7-5, MAC Commonwealth 3-1) got two quick goals and led from wire-to-wire. Ryan Van Bochoven put the hosts on the board at 13:32 before Blake Knobloch doubled the lead at 12:31. The Falcons outshot the Pride by a count of 15-4 while keeping the visitors off the scoreboard the entire frame.
 
In the second quarter, Widener broke through for the first time when senior Marc LaVine (Nashua, N.H.) found classmate Kyle Gratz (Worthington, Ohio) for a man-up goal with 6:50 remaining. Messiah, however, shook off the attempted rally and scored two more goals in the frame to take a 4-1 lead at the break.
 
The Pride continued to fight in the second half and netted the first goal of the third quarter when Gratz finished a pass from sophomore Mitchell Phillips (Wyomissing, Pa.) to slice the deficit down to a pair of goals. The Pride, however, would come no closer the rest of the way. Messiah answered with two consecutive markers to remain ahead and utilized a three-goal stretch in a span of 2:27 during the fourth quarter to eventually earn the five-goal victory.
 
Knobloch registered four goals and one helper to pace Messiah, which outshot the Pride by a 48-23 margin. Sam Stengel was solid between the pipes and finished with six saves while also scooping up five ground balls.
 
Widener (5-6, MAC Commonwealth 4-1) was led by Gratz, who came off the bench and netted a hat trick. Freshman Shane Taylor (Philadelphia, Pa.) and senior Tim Taylor (Philadelphia, Pa.) each accounted for one goal and one assist, while freshman Matt Horton (Emmaus, Pa.) turned away 10 shots.
 
The Pride will face another quality MAC Commonwealth opponent when they welcome Albright to Leslie. C. Quick Stadium on Wednesday, Apr. 20 at 7:00 p.m.