CHESTER, Pa. – Widener University outscored the Manhattanville men's lacrosse team by a 5-0 margin in the first quarter and never allowed the Valiants back in the game in earning an 11-2 victory in a Middle Atlantic Conference matchup at Leslie C. Quick, Jr. Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Valiants never received much of a chance against the Pride, as Widener held a dominating 28-5 edge in shots on goal. Valiant junior netminder Andrew Predun (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) tied a season-high with 17 saves to keep Manhattanville close, while Widener sophomore goaltender Kevin Carney only needed to make three stops on the afternoon.

Pride sophomore Shawn DeHaven had the game high in goals with three, while junior Cory Malampy led all players with four points on a goal and three assists. The Valiants received goals from junior Joey Hasbrouck (Wantagh, N.Y.) and sophomore Mike Strauss (Newark, Del.), while freshman Charlie Ogalin (Trumbull, Conn.) assisted on both Manhattanville tallies for his first career multi-assist game.

The home team came out of the gates strong, scoring five times in the opening quarter to put the Valiants behind the eight-ball early. Sophomore Mike Holtz opened the scoring 1:52 into the first quarter, putting the first shot of the game past Predun unassisted. Freshman Johnny Casey scored twice in less than a minute to give the Pride a 3-0 lead, and DeHaven added two of his own late in the quarter to put Widener up, 5-0, after 15 minutes of play.

Hasbrouck got the Valiants within four with the first goal of the second quarter, which came with 4:55 remaining in the frame. Widener killed the Manhattanville momentum with a pair of goals late in the quarter, including one with 45 seconds left in the clock.

The Valiants scored the first goal of the quarter once again in the third, as this time it was Strauss taking a pass from Ogalin and finding the net 1:43 into the frame. But the Pride came back with two goals in each of the final two quarters to account for the final score.

The Manhattanville special teams took a hit late in the game, as Widener's final two goals while a man-down and a man-up, respectively. Sophomore Kevin Rider netted an unassisted man-down tally with 4:58 left in the game, and Malampy scored while a man-up 2:46 later to round out the scoring.

Manhattanville (3-7, 2-3 MAC) will host conference competitor DeSales University under the lights of GoValiants.com Field on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Widener (5-5, 4-1 MAC) will face conference opponent FDU-Florham on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

2009-04-04