ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Entering Tuesday's home game against defending Middle Atlantic Conference champion Widener University, the Elizabethtown College men's lacrosse program was 0-6 all-time against Widener. The Blue Jays chalked up their first win ever against the Pride Tuesday, winning 9-7 to improve to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the MAC. Widener, which received votes but did not make the top 20 in the latest USILA national poll for NCAA Division III, dropped to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the MAC with the loss.

Elizabethtown built an early lead an never looked back, taking a 4-1 advantage by the end of the first quarter. The Blue Jays tallied the game's first three goals, beginning with a Frankie Puzzangara (Wallingford, PA/Strath Haven) goal off an Andrew Wagner (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) assist at 9:38. Aaron Weber (Lititz, PA/Manheim Township) scored the next Etown goal off a Puzzangara assist at 8:07, and Josh Dougherty (Ocean City, MD/Worcester Prep.) made it 3-0 with a goal off a Weber assist with 1:29 left in the first quarter.

With 1:13 left, Widener got its first goal of the game when Chris Matthews (Drexel Hill, PA/Monsignor Bonner) scored off a Brian Stromko (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) assist. Etown got one more first quarter goal with 14 seconds left when Chris Senese (Leonardtown, MD/Unionville) scored unassisted.

The visiting Pride climbed back into the game in the second quarter, out-scoring Etown 3-1 to cut the Blue Jay lead to 5-4 by halftime. Clint Quedenfeld (Chalfont, PA) scored off a Justin Upp (Camden, DE/Caesar Rodney) assist for Widener with 14:31 in the period. Etown's Puzzangara struck back with a goal at 9:40. With 3:59 left in the half, Widener's Luke Weber (Lititz, PA/Manheim Township) scored off a Gavin Goane (Springfield, PA/Springfield) assist, and Stromko finished the second quarter's scoring with a goal off an Adam Ardary (Springfield, PA/Springfield) assist with 1:44 left.

Only two goals were scored in the third quarter, and Elizabethtown had both of them. Dougherty tallied a man-up goal with 3:02 left in the third to give Etown a 6-4 lead, and Aaron Weber made it 7-4 in the Blue Jays' favor with a goal with 21 seconds left in the period.

Etown went ahead 8-4 with 10:34 left in the fourth quarter when Puzzangara scored his third goal of the game. Elizabethtown was playing man down at the time. Widener scored the next two goals to cut the gap to 8-6, with Goane scoring off a Stromko assist at 9:52 and Stromko scoring off a Matthews assist at 6:54. Aaron Weber added an insurance goal for Etown, his third of the game, with 1:30 left in the fourth. Stromko scored the final goal for Widener off a Matthews assist with 26 seconds left in the game.

Widener out-shot Elizabethtown 34-29, and Etown goaltender Chris Schuch (Columbia, PA/Hempfield) made eight saves and had one ground ball. Widener goalie Andrew Johnson (Wallingford, PA/Strath Haven) made eight saves and had one ground ball as well. Elizabethtown held a 29-23 advantage in ground balls, and the Blue Jays won 12 out of 20 face-offs.

Puzzangara led Etown in ground balls with ten and went 9-for-14 in face-offs, in addition to scoring three goals and one assist for four points. Aaron Weber also finished the game with three goals, one assist and four points for Etown, and Dougherty had two goals.

Stromko finished the game as Widener's leading scorer with three goals and two assists for five points. Ardary led the Pride in ground balls with 6. Elizabethtown will return to action on the road Saturday, March 24 against MAC rival Drew University in a 12:00 p.m. game.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Widener.............  1  3  0  3 -  7
Elizabethtown.......  4  1  2  2 -  9
 
Widener SCORING:
GOALS: Stromko, Brian 3; Matthews, Chris 1; Goane, Gavin 1;
       Weber, Luke 1; Quedenfeld, Clint 1.
ASSISTS: Matthews, Chris 2; Stromko, Brian 2; Ardary, Adam 1;
         Goane, Gavin 1; Upp, Justin 1.
 
Elizabethtown SCORING:
GOALS: Aaron Weber 3; Frankie Puzzangara 3; Josh Dougherty 2;
       Chris Senese 1.
ASSISTS: Frankie Puzzangara 1; Andrew Wagner 1; Aaron Weber 1.
 
Shots by period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Widener.............  7  8  7 12 - 34
Elizabethtown.......  7  4 11  7 - 29
 
Ground balls by prd   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Widener.............  6  9  3  5 - 23
Elizabethtown....... 11  6  5  7 - 29
 
Face-offs by prd       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Widener.............  3-6   2-5   1-4   2-5  -  8-20
Elizabethtown.......  3-6   3-5   3-4   3-5  - 12-20
 
Clears by period       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Widener.............  3-3   5-6   5-5   4-4  - 17-18
Elizabethtown.......  5-5   3-4   5-7   3-4  - 16-20
 
Extra-man opps         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Widener.............  0-0   0-0   0-0   0-3  -  0-3
Elizabethtown.......  0-0   0-0   1-1   0-1  -  1-2
 
Saves by period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Widener.............  2  0  4  2 -  8
Elizabethtown.......  0  3  3  2 -  8
 
PENALTIES - WIDML 2/2:00; ETOWN 3/3:00.

2007-03-20