Game Info: Wednesday, April 21 - 7:00 p.m.
Location: Quick Stadium - Chester, Pa.
Social Media: @WidenerSports |
@WidenerLacrosse
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Opening Face-off
The Pride rounds out conference play with a midweek matchup against the Messiah Falcons on Wednesday, April 21. Opening face-off from Quick Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
Last Time Out - @WidenerLacrosse Dealt Setback In Senior Day Matchup Against #13 Stevenson
Before Saturday's game, the Widener university men's lacrosse team honored 14 graduating seniors as they suited up for one of the last times at Quick Stadium. Against Stevenson, the Pride kept it a one-goal game into the third quarter, but was ultimately dealt the 16-9 setback as the Mustangs pulled away late.
Stevenson quickly jumped to a 3-0 lead after one quarter of play. However, goals from
Paz Gismondi,
Jayce Dyer, and
Nick DiIorio in the second allowed Widener to pull within one. Two more from the Mustangs and a Pride score by
Mike Kala'i in the half's final minutes gave Stevenson a 6-4 advantage entering halftime.
Dyer found rope two minutes into the second act to again slash the Blue and Gold's deficit to one, but the Mustangs followed up with five straight to take its biggest lead of the afternoon at that point. Despite three more goals from Kala'i and a hat trick from Dyer, the Mustangs held onto that lead as it tacked on another five and cemented the final tally.
Scouting Report
Messiah enters the matchup 3-6 overall and 0-5 in conference play coming off a loss to Lebanon Valley on Saturday. The Pride is 9-7 all-time against the Falcons with their last meeting coming as an 18-16 Widener win on April 3, 2019.
Junior Sam Stone spearheads Messiah's offense, racking up 29 points this season off 19 goals and 10 assists. Setting up much of the offense is Owen Joyce who has dished a team-high 12 helpers to go with 13 goals of his own. Defensively, sophomore Ryan Fascetta has caused 16 turnovers and scooped 27 ground balls. In between the pipes, returning senior Jacob Fahnestock has recorded 91 saves and posted an 10.64 goals-against average.
Atsen Bulus is in his seventh season at the helm for the Falcons, compiling a 53-43 record in that time. He has coached 11 All-Conference players and won MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year in 2015.
#LaxTop5
Against Eastern, senior starting goalkeeper
Carter Landry achieved something not many goalies ever do: he scored the first goal of his career. The play was so unique that it garnered national attention and was featured as the number two play on ESPN's Top Five Lacrosse Plays of The Week during their college lacrosse halftime show.
Scoring Machine
Junior attack
Connor Heisman enjoyed the best scoring output of his career in Widener's 17-7 win over Albright. His nine points off six goals and three assists was the most for a Pride player since May 1, 2004 when Todd Fairlie notched 10 in a win over King's.
Mr. 100
With his 17 helpers this season,
Paz Gismondi became just the fifth Pride player to eclipse 100 career assists with 106. 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 167 are 11 behind Luke Weber (2005-08).
Top Notch Transition
Coach
Jamie Lockard always puts an emphasis on getting the ball from the defensive side of midfield and into the attacking area. Widener has been successful on 87.9 percent of its attempted clears this spring, a mark good for second in the conference and 21st nationally. Lockard's teams have led the conference in clearing perventage the past two seasons, boasting a percentage of 85.1 percent in 2020 and 84.6 percent in 2019.
Manning The Man-Up
The Blue and Gold's ability to convert on extra man opportunities has been a big reason why its offense ranks in the top-25 nationally, capitalizing on 46.7 percent of man-up chances.
Connor Heisman's six man-up goals ranks second in the conference and 10th in all of NCAAD3.
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 27 with
Connor Ball and
Matt Buckley finding rope 16 times a piece.
Familiar Face(off)s
A successful attack starts in the face-off circle. Returning senior
Kenneth Watts boasts a 57.7 percent face-off winning percentage this season, dominating 64-of-111 battles so far.
Adam Oldrati and
Sean Gibson also contribute as specialists, posting winning percentages of 58.3 and 60.0 percent, respectively. Oldrati comes away with the ball on many of his wins and leads the Blue and Gold with 37 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 17 points off 16 goals and one assist.
Mike Kala'i has recorded 15 off 13 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
Widener plays its last regular season game as it hosts Stevens on Tuesday, April 27. Opening face-off from Quick Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
