BRYN ATHYN, Pa. (March 16, 2017) – Junior Anthony Paone (Warrington, Pa.) won 15 faceoffs to help create instant offense and matched a career high by scooping up 11 ground balls as the Widener University men's lacrosse team defeated the University of New England by a 12-10 score on Thursday afternoon at Bryn Athyn College's General Nelson Field.
 
Widener exploded offensively to net 10 goals in the first half and wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. After Paone won the opening faceoff, sophomore Shane Taylor (Philadelphia, Pa.) took a quick pass from junior Chris Drake (Morristown, N.J.) and fired the ball past Nor'easter goalkeeper David Pearson just nine seconds in the contest. UNE seized a 3-2 lead when Mitch Mullin found Philip Young for a marker at the 9:47 mark, but the Pride closed the opening quarter with three straight goals and never trailed again.
 
Despite yielding two goals in the second quarter, Widener (2-3) closed the half on a 5-0 to begin pulling away. Senior Tyler Schulte (Southampton, N.J.) scored the team's third of four man-up goals to spark the run, and Taylor capped the streak by finding the back of the net with just six seconds left to make it 10-5 at the break.
 
UNE, however, slowly chipped away at the deficit in the second half and made a furious attempt to rally in the closing minutes. After Schulte scored a man-up marker to give the Pride a 12-7 cushion with 4:48 remaining, UNE caught fire and scored three times in a span of 1:16. Alex Zadworny added a marker to create a 12-10 score with 42 seconds on the clock to keep the Nor'Easters in striking distance, but Paone won the critical faceoff that ensued to allow the Pride to hang on for the win.
 
Schulte found the back of the net five times to lead the offense for Widener, which most notably was 4-of-6 on man-up opportunities with three of the markers coming from the star senior. The Pride also had a commanding 44-33 advantage in ground balls and outshot the Nor'easters by a narrow 35-33 margin.
 
Taylor finished with a hat trick, while junior defender John Ferguson (Springfield, Pa.) scooped up four ground balls and caused three turnovers. Sophomore netminder Matt Horton (Emmaus, Pa.) made 12 saves.
 
UNE (4-1) was paced by Dan Auger and Zadworny in the setback. Auger finished with four points on one goal and three assists, and Zadworny added a hat trick. Pearson picked up four ground balls, caused two turnovers and turned away nine shots between the pipes.
 
Widener will face a nationally-ranked opponent in the Centennial Conference for the second time this week when it treks to #14-ranked Gettysburg on Saturday, March 18 for another 1:00 p.m. matinee.