Box Score OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Top-seeded and No. 10 nationally Stevenson University scored the game's first seven goals and never looked back, posting a 21-4 win over fifth-seeded Albright College in the semifinal round of the MAC Commonwealth Men's Lacrosse Championship Wednesday night at Mustang Stadium. The Mustangs (14-4) earned their fourth straight trip to the conference title game with the win, their 11th in a row.
Albright (7-10) saw its season come to an end after upending fourth-seeded Lebanon Valley in a first round game on Monday.
With the win, Stevenson hosts second-seeded Messiah College on Saturday in the MAC Commonwealth title game at 7:00 at Mustang Stadium. The two teams are meeting in the final for the second straight year. Stevenson posted an 11-6 win over the Falcons in the two teams' regular season meeting in Owings Mills on April 20, and seeks its fourth straight conference crown.
Senior Matt Tompkins led Stevenson with six goals, matching a career high set earlier this season in the regular season meeting against the Lions. Junior Morgan Pritchett notched four goals, while junior Kyle D'Onofrio finished with two goals and three assists. Senior Stephen Banick had a four-point night with two goals and two assists, while junior Sean Ohlhaver and sophomore Kyle Karsian each added two goals, with Karsian also registering an assist. Sophomore Bryce Spruill, senior Ryan Kirby and junior Tyler Fuhrman each had single goals, while senior Pat Candon handed out three assists.
Junior Cam Cetrone had two goals to lead Albright, while James Egelston and Kenny Pastore each had single tallies.
Unlike the first meeting, a 16-13 Mustang win on April 16 in which Stevenson never led by more than four, the Mustangs opened up with seven straight goals over the first 10:47 of the first quarter.
Banick scored seven seconds off the opening faceoff off a feed from junior faceoff man Nathaniel LeQuang, followed by back-to-back goals by Pritchett at 13:05 and 10:45 to make it 3-0. After Karsian scored at the 9:59 mark, Tompkins scored three times in a span of 2:51 to make it 7-0 with 4:13 left in the first. Cetrone scored on Albright's first shot of the game at the 2:12 mark to make it 7-1 after one quarter.
The Mustangs blanked Albright in the second quarter, scoring seven more times to open up a 14-1 lead at intermission. A Tompkins man-up goal at the 5:23 mark closed out the second quarter scoring. The 14 goals were the most in the first half for Stevenson since the season opener against Alvernia.
Cetrone scored a man-up goal just over two minutes into the third quarter to make it 14-2, but Stevenson had the final four goals of the frame, and back-to-back tallies by Tompkins at 5:40 and 2:29 made it 18-2 heading into the fourth.
Albright scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter before Spruill got in the scoring column with 6:19 to go. Fuhrman closed out the scoring with 1:08 left.
Freshman Garrett Egnaczyk had a pair of saves over the first 45 minutes in goal for Stevenson before giving way to senior Connor Skeen, who posted two saves in the final period. Albright counterpart Ryan Aler turned aside 23 shots as the Mustangs outshot the Lions 75-18. Stevenson won 21-of-27 faceoffs and picked up 49 ground balls to Albright's 17.
LeQuang won 19-of-25 at the faceoff X and recorded nine ground balls. Sophomore Dom DeFazio had four caused turnovers and four ground balls, while Egnaczyk had three caused turnovers and five ground balls. Seniors Taylor Morgan and Dylan Muti each had three caused turnovers as the Mustangs had a season-high 17 caused turnovers on the night.
