READING, Pa. (Apr. 6, 2016) – Senior Tim Taylor (Philadelphia, Pa.) led a balanced attack and recorded a hat trick as the Widener University men's lacrosse team soundly defeated Alvernia in a 20-1 rout on Wednesday evening. The Pride remained unbeaten in conference play by having 13 players find the back of the net and five goalkeepers combining to make five saves.
 
Widener dominated from the opening whistle and scored just nine seconds into the game when freshman Shane Taylor (Philadelphia, Pa.) found older brother Tim Taylor (Philadelphia, Pa.) for an open look that put the Pride on the board. The visitors would score 14 times in the opening half, which included seeing sophomore Mitchell Phillips (Wyomissing, Pa.) and freshman Gavin Kirkwood (Basking Ridge, N.J.) tally their first career markers during the hot stretch.
 
Widener tacked on two more quickly in the third to make it 16 unanswered goals to start the game before Alvernia finally ended its scoring drought while playing a man-up. Tyler McDonnell put the Crusaders on the board and avoided the shutout at the 8:09 mark of the third quarter, marking the first time the Pride surrendered a goal in more than 70 minutes of action.
 
After going more than four consecutive frames without yielding a goal, Widener ended the game on a high note by scoring the last four goals and keeping the Crusaders off the board throughout the fourth quarter. Freshman Drew Amsley scored his fifth goal of the spring to complete the rout.
 
Widener (3-5, MAC Commonwealth 2-0), which has outscored its conference opponents by a count of 29-3 over the last two games, had a commanding 45-12 advantage in total shots. The Pride also won the ground game, 35-20, and were successful in 18 of 24 face-off attempts. Freshman Matt Horton earned the win between the pipes by blanking the Crusaders and making one save in the first half. Sophomore Bryan Mauser (Ellicott City, Md.) and Joel Given (Flemington, N.J.) each made successful collegiate debuts by not surrendering a goal in relief of Horton, while Given turned away one shot.
 
In addition to McDonnell, Alvernia (3-7, MAC Commonwealth 0-2) got a strong effort from backup goaltender Kyle Augustine. He made nine saves in the losing effort.
 

Widener will next face Lycoming on Saturday, Apr. 9 at 1:00 p.m. The Pride will also be recognizing their 12-member senior class prior to the contest.