CHESTER, Pa. – Following a two-day delay from weather, Widener men's lacrosse sealed their 2023 MAC Commonwealth playoff berth with a 12-9 win over the Messiah Falcons.
 
After the 12-9 win, the Pride move to 8-7 in the regular season and 5-2 in conference play.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Connor Heisman led the Pride with four goals.
• Keegan Billie saves 12 Falcon shots.
• Pride outshoot the Falcons 45 to 39.
• The team forces 16 Falcon turnovers.

HOW IT HAPPENED AT HIRSCHMANN FIELD
 
A slow start for the Pride set the Falcons up for the first five minutes. Two failed clears from two turnovers gave the Falcons the first goal of the game. Heisman gave the Pride some life to tie the game minutes after. Drew Venit added a caused turnover to his stats which set up a successful clear. Matt Buckley took it to the cage to give the Pride a 2-1 lead. An unnecessary roughness penalty on a Falcon gave the Pride an extra man opportunity which was taken advantage of from Heisman and Buckley. A minute later, Wesley Sporer scored after another Venit caused turnover and ground ball which sent the Pride into the second with a 4-2 lead.
 
Opening the second were offsetting penalties. The Pride didn't let that slow them as Buckey and Nick DiCicco rattled off shots. A scoreless mid quarter was filled with saves from Billie. With 3:22 on the clock, the Pride call timeout to reset. Out of the timeout, Buckley broke the scoring drought from a Heisman pass. The Falcons answered and both teams went into halftime as the Pride led 5-4.
 
Again, the Pride opened the half slow which allowed the Falcons to score two quick goals to take the lead back. On a quick faceoff win from Matthew Shingle and ground ball from Liam Montgomery, Samuel Haverstrom tied the game at six. Venit drew another caused turnover and ground ball to switch the field to let Haverstrom and DiCicco shoot. Just under halfway through the quarter, Buckley tied the game again at seven from a Heisman pass. Following a failed Falcon's clear caused by Heisman, he scooped the loose ball and scored to give the Pride an 8-7 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Heisman's stick was still hot from just previously scoring, so after a quick faceoff win, he did it again. The Pride created a turnover on a shot clock kill to allow Haverstrom to rip two quick shots which were followed by a DiCicco goal. Another failed Falcon's clear gave Sporer his second goal of the game to force a Falcon timeout. Later in the quarter, a too many players penalty allowed Haverstrom to score a man-up goal with a Buckley assist. The Pride would walk away with a 12-9 win to clinch a MAC Commonwealth playoff berth.
 
UP NEXT
Widener faces the 10-5 and undefeated in the MAC Commonwealth York Spartans in their final regular season game. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at York.