CHESTER, Pa. (Apr. 8, 2017) – The Widener University men's lacrosse team made a comeback attempt in the fourth quarter which came up just shy in a 10-8 setback against nationally-ranked Stevenson on Saturday afternoon at Leslie C. Quick Stadium.
 
Widener trailed by a 9-5 score through three quarters before netting three unanswered. After junior Chris Drake (Morristown, N.J.) scored back-to-back markers, freshman Paz Gasmondi (West Deptford, N.J.) received a pass from sophomore Shane Taylor (Philadelphia, Pa.) and slipped the ball past Mustang netminder Ross Dinan to slash the margin down to 9-8 with 1:58 remaining in regulation.
 
Stevenson's Justin Burnette, however, won the crucial ensuing faceoff and Kyle D'Onofrio fired home his fourth goal of the game to suck the wind out of the Pride's sails. Senior Tyler Schulte (Southampton, N.J.) attempted one more shot which was saved by Dinan, whose squad then ran out the clock to come away with the win.
 
Even though the Mustangs scored the first three goals of the game and went on several runs, Widener never went away and continued to chip away at every deficit it faced. The hosts brought the margin down to a single goal on three occasions after falling behind, beginning when Schulte and junior Mitchell Phillips (Wyomissing, Pa.) scored back-to-back goals to make it 3-2 in favor of the Mustangs through the first quarter of play.
 
Widener, which trailed 6-3 at the break, opened the scoring in the second half when junior Liam O'Donnell (Media, Pa.) netted his first career marker following a key defensive stop on the other end by Jason Higgins (Philadelphia, Pa.). Gismondi then netted a man-up goal to make it a one-possession game, but the Mustangs closed the quarter on a 3-0 run. The Pride continued to be relentless and stormed back to make it a one-possession game by the waning minutes of the final quarter, but the attempted rally would end just a few goals short and kept the Mustangs unbeaten in conference play.
 
Kyle D'Onofrio tallied a game-high five points on four goals and an assist to lead the way for Stevenson (8-3, MAC Commonwealth 5-0), which outshot Widener by a count of 48-32 in the contest. JT Thelen netted a hat trick, while Dinan made seven saves between the pipes, picked up six ground balls and caused a turnover.
 
Sophomore goalie Matt Horton (Emmaus, Pa.) made 15 saves, including five in the final quarter, to help keep Widener competitive throughout the game. Taylor and Drake each factored into three goals, and junior Anthony Paone (Warrington, Pa.) won 13 of his 21 faceoff attempts.
 
Widener (5-6, MAC Commonwealth 2-2) will be back in action when it visits Arcadia on Saturday, Apr. 15 at 1:00 p.m.