Grantham, PA — For head coach Geof Weisenborn, it is a certainty that the Messiah College men's lacrosse program will return to winning MAC Championships.
It will just have to wait another year.
Messiah (11-6) dropped a 10-6 decision to Widener University in Saturday's MAC Championship at Anderson Field, marking the fourth consecutive season the Pride defeated Messiah in the conference title game.
With the loss, the Falcons conclude their season somewhat prematurely, as the team entered the post-season with an undefeated league record (7-0) while upping its winning streak to 26 games within regular-season conference play.
Widener has now captured the last four titles over Messiah by scores of 7-5 (2005), 9-6 (2007) and an identical 10-6 difference in 2006. All but that win have occurred on Messiah's home turf.
“It's going to happen,” Weisenborn said following Saturday's defeat. “We're going to win our fair share of championships, and we're going to have to go through Widener to get there. We're continuing to learn as coaches and players. Eventually we're going to break through.”
All signs pointed toward a more positive result Saturday, as Messiah had beaten Widener (10-7) in the regular season for the second straight year. Weisenborn's team captured an early 2-1 lead over the Pride Saturday, as seniors Ian Lee and Nick Ricucci scored goals to offset a game-opening tally from Widener's Brian Stromko.
A deliberate, patient attack from both teams kept things at a snail's pace for the majority of the contest, however, as a score from sophomore Brent Stewart pulled Messiah to a 3-2 lead just before the second quarter. Widener's Stromko then scored another at the midway point of the second, the period's only goal for a 3-3 game at halftime.
The team's then traded scores in the third — Stromko and Ricucci each tacked on unassisted markers — making it a 4-4 game heading into the final period.
“Our guys executed well for three quarters,” Weisenborn said. “We didn't finish well early in the game, and it took a couple of goals for us to get into a rhythm. But for the most part, we executed our plan well for the first 45 minutes.”
He paused.
“The turning point of the game occurred at the end of the third, in my opinion.”
It was at that point that Widener successfully broke four straight clear attempts from Messiah, giving the visitors the momentum heading into the final period. The Pride tacked on two goals at the 12:13 and 10:48 marks of the stanza, claiming a 6-4 lead.
Junior Hamilton Anderson then gave Messiah a spark of momentum with 8:33 remaining, scoring an unassisted goal in dodging in from the right side.
It was an isolated occurrence, however, as Wiidener added two more scores at the 7:40 and 5:56 marks, pulling ahead by an 8-5 score.
A diving score from senior Bryce Geiman with 3:55 to play was matched by another score from Widener at the 2:44 mark, and after a Falcons' miss on its next possession, the team was forced to pull senior goalie Ted Oberg out of the cage in hopes of causing a turnover. Widener scored on an open net with 1:06 on the game clock, providing the final 10-6 difference.
“The end of the third quarter was not good for us collectively,” Weisenborn said. “At that point, we weren't handling the situation very well. In the fourth, we simply had too many unforced turnovers. As a defense, you can only hold so many back. Sooner or later, a team as good as Widener is going to find a way to score.”
The Pride finished with a 45-37 advantage in total shots, though Messiah picked up 36 ground balls to Widener's 18 and held a slight 11-8 advantage in face offs. The visitors did break eight of Messiah's 29 clear attempts.
Ricucci finished a stellar career with a team-best two goals on six shots. Hamilton, Stewart, Lee and sophomore John Murdock each added single scores. Senior defenseman Paul Menera and sophomore J.J. Miller each recorded six ground balls, with Miller leading the Falcons' efforts in the face-off X in going 8-13.
“We'll get past this hurdle,” Weisenborn repeated. “Part of that is continuing to focus on what's gotten us to this point and what we have to improve on. We told our returning guys afterward, 'We're going to get there, it's your choice if you want to be on the team that does.'”
