CHESTER, Pa. - Widener men's soccer saw it's 2026 season come to a close with a loss to Hood College by a final score of 3-1 at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium. The loss came in the MAC Commonwealth No. 4/No. 5 Play-In game and marked the Pride's first appearance in the tournament since 2024.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Widener took 11 shots to Hood's nine. Both teams put six shots on target.
- Ricky Venegas Banuelos scored his first goal of the season in his final game with the Pride.
- The match featured a combined 11 cards shown between the two teams.
- Tristan Willey made two saves in net for the Pride.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Widener had the first chance to get on the board as Jordi Lopez drew a foul inside the box in the 27th minute. Lopez stepped up to take the penalty kick but his shot towards the bottom left corner was saved and the contest would remain scoreless. Hood would score in the 31st minute before doubling their lead in the 39th minute after converting on a penalty kick opportunity of their own. Neither team would score again and the Blazers would take the 2-0 lead into the locker room for halftime.
- Widener would attempt to climb back into the game despite facing a two goal deficit. A Joaquim Klippenstein goal would not count in the 69th minute after the offside flag was shown. Eight minutes later, Widener would cut the lead to one after a Jackson Held crosser into the box would find the head of Venegas Banuelos, who redirected the ball into the back of the net. The Pride couldn't make anymore inroads from there and after going down to 10 men with two and a half minutes to go, Hood would tack on an insurance goal off a free kick in the 89th minute to punch their ticket to the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals.
UP NEXT
Widener will head into the offseason and begin to prepare for the the 2027 season. The Pride finished with an 11-6-1 record (5-3-0 MAC), the most regular season wins by a Widener squad since 2023 and the most conference wins since 2022.
