Game Info: Wednesday, April 14 - 6:00 p.m.
Location: Shirk Stadium - Reading, Pa.
Social Media: @WidenerSports |
@WidenerLacrosse
|
Opening Face-off
The Pride continues conference play with a road matchup against the Albright Lions on Wednesday, April 14. Opening face-off is set for 6 p.m.
Last Time Out - @WidenerLacrosse Dealt Second Setback of Season Against Eastern
The Widener University men's lacrosse team was dealt its second setback of the season, falling 12-7 to the Eastern Eagles.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Carter Landry made 11 saves in the match, moving him to 10th all-time in saves for Widener with 279. He also netted his first career goal.
- Connor Heisman led the Pride in scoring with four points off two goals and two assists.
- Paz Gismondi picked up two scores.
- Defensively, Aegean Cuylan and Drew Venit each caused three turnovers a piece.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Unlike Widener's past high-scoring affairs, this game was a battle of two defenses. Gismondi found the back of the cage first with a score five minutes in. The Eagles were able to get one past the Pride at the 1:38 mark to lock the game at 1-1 after one. Landry opened the second quarter with a heave that went past Eastern's goalie to give him his first ever score. The Eagles were able to pick up two more goals, though, to enter halftime up 4-2.
Connor Ball opened the second act with a score, but Eastern found rope again to go back up by two. The Blue and Gold fought back to even the score at five a piece behind a man-up goal from Heisman and
Nick DiIorio's first score of the evening. However, the Eagles capped off the third with two straight of their own to retake the advantage. Widener pulled back within one in the fourth with an opening goal from Gismondi, but five more Eastern scores in the quarter allowed them to pull away as they cemented the final tally.
Scouting Report
Albright enters the matchup 1-6 overall and 1-3 in conference play with their only win coming against Messiah on March 17. The Pride last played the Lions on March 27, 2019, downing them 12-6 behind a hat trick from
Connor Heisman.
Leading Albright's offense is junior Cole Genneken who has racked up 26 points this season off 19 goals and seven assists. Defensively, Connor Graser tops the conference in caused turnovers per game with 3.71 and has scooped a team-high 53 ground balls. Between the pipes, sophomore Ferry Liam takes most of the minutes and has saved 61 shots that have come his way this spring.
James Malone is in his fifth season at the helm for the Lions. In that time, he has coached eight All-MAC Commonwealth selections, including the MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Year in 2017.
Manning The Man-Up
The Blue and Gold's ability to convert on extra man opportunites has been a big reason why Widener's offense ranks in the top-25 nationally, capitalizing on 45.0 percent of man-up chances.
Connor Ball and
Connor Heisman's five man-up goals each rank first in the conference and 16th in all of NCAAD3. The Pride is 5-1 when it records two or more man-up goals.
Mr. 100
With his 11 helpers this season,
Paz Gismondi became just the fifth Pride player to eclipse 100 career assists. Next on the list is Robert Clemens who dished 110 dimes from 2011-14. Gismondi is also closing in on- the top-10 in points as his 158 are 20 behind Luke Weber (2005-08).
Spreading The Scoring
While teams often have a go-to player when they need a goal, having multiple options so the defense can't key on one player is a big advantage. The Blue and Gold has taken that concept to the extreme this season as 26 players have found the back of the net and 17 have scored multiple times.
Connor Heisman leads the way with 21 with
Nick DiCicco and
Connor Ball finding rope 15 times a piece.
Familiar Face(off)s
A successful attack starts in the face-off circle. Returning senior
Kenneth Watts boasts a 59.1 percent face-off winning percentage this season, dominating 52-of-88 battles so far.
Adam Oldrati and
Sean Gibson also contribute as specialists, posting winning percentages of 62.6 and 63.0 percent, respectively. Oldrati comes away with the ball on many of his wins and leads the Blue and Gold with 31 ground balls this season.
Day One Contributors
First year players have played a key role for the Pride this year as three of the team's top-10 point scorers are in their rookie campaigns.
Matt Buckley leads the pack with 14 points off 13 goals and one assist.
Mike Kala'i has recorded 10 off eight scores and two helpers, including the game-winner against Arcadia.
Nick Brennan rounds out the group with seven points and had his best outing against Alvernia when he led all players on the field in scoring with six goals.
Up Next
The Pride hosts No. 13 Stevenson as it honors its seniors and rounds out its conference slate on Saturday, April 17. Opening face-off from Quick Stadium is set for 1 p.m.
