Stevenson men’s lacrosse (11-6, 6-1 MAC) celebrated their senior night with fireworks and a Middle Atlantic Conference win on Saturday against Widener University (4-12, 3-4 MAC).
The game was never in question for the Mustangs after they jumped out to a 6-1 first quarter lead that was never relinquished thanks to the nine different players who found the back of the net throughout the contest. Led by Gavin Gossen and Dillon Linhardt with five a piece, other goal scorers included Grant Zick and Matt Racich with three each, Darrell Curtis with two, and Andrew Searing, Jack Scaliti, and Jack Seals each scoring one.
As the Stangs’ rolled into the second half, the scoring turned up. Stevenson went on a 9-0 run to flex their lead to 20-4 and shut out Widener in the third quarter.
Widener tried to rally but it was a case of too little, too late as they scored three more to make it a 21-9 game. It was Linhardt who struck again with 6 seconds to go to slam the door on the Pride, 22-9.
Seals, a defender, was one of 19 seniors honored on Saturday.
“The mindset that the team shared going into this final regular was to get out on the field and dominate from start to finish,” Seals said.
He also shared what head coach Paul Cantebene expected.
“Coach Cantebene shared with us after practice on Friday how we owe it to our seniors leaving after this year to come out and play to the best of our abilities and that is exactly what we did and were able to secure a big victory for us.”
The blowout win in their last regular season game helped lock up the No. 2 seed in the conference for the Mustangs who now set their eyes on preparing for a 7 p.m. rematch with No. 3 Messiah, Wednesday, May 1.
“Some of the preparations that we will use to take care of business against Messiah in the MAC Semifinal are that we will watch lots of film on them,” Seals said. “They are an attack heavy roster with some capable players that we need to shut down early to achieve a victory. We also have an amazing scout team that gives us a great look every week in practice no matter who we are playing and gives us a great look of the offenses that the other teams run.”
