Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/2/14
From Press Release
Widener could not overcome an early four-goal deficit and saw its season end with a 12-7 loss to Albright in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals Thursday at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium.
Widener (9-6) lost for just the sixth time in 31 conference tournament games and saw its streak of playing in a conference final nine straight years come to an end. The Pride had defeated the Lions in the conference tournament each of the last two years in Reading.
Albright was held to four goals in the teams’ regular-season meeting, but it got that amount in the first quarter for a 4-1 lead. Phil Potter led the charge with two goals in that run with Derek Stump and Andy Poitras getting the others.
Potter scored again midway through the second quarter for a 5-1 margin, before Widener netted three of the next four goals for a 6-4 deficit. Senior Paul Berger (Abington), junior Kyle Blakemore (Ridley) and freshman Tyler Schulte (Seneca) were the scorers for the Pride.
The Lions took back any momentum they had lost with eight seconds left in the half when Cam Cetrone scored for a 7-4 halftime lead.
What followed 18 seconds into the second half was nearly an hour delay due to lightning, but Albright (11-5) did not lose momentum. Andrew Potter scored with 6:42 left and, after freshman Vince Marra (Springfield-Delco) tallied for Widener, Bryan Smith found the back of the net for a 9-5 Albright lead at three-quarter time.
Phil Potter played great with four goals, Poitras netted three with Cetrone getting a goal and two assists. Jordan DiZenzo had as much to do with the win as the offense, making 12 saves that included six in the first quarter to help set the tempo.
Senior Robert Clemens (Sun Valley) had three assists and graduates fourth in school history with 110. Schulte and freshman Nick Striebich (Ellicott City, MD) scored twice with senior All-America Mac Nestler (Chatham, NJ), the second four-time all-conference player in school history, making nine saves in his final game.
Widener ends a great season in which it was preseason ranked 19th in the country according to Lacrosse Magazine and once again played tough against the nation’s elite teams.
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