OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Stevenson hosted third-seeded Messiah tonight in a MAC Commonwealth semifinal matchup at Mustang Stadium. After a 26-19 win for the Mustangs, and a major upset by Eastern University over York College, the Mustangs have earned hosting rights for the 2024 MAC Commonwealth title game against fourth-seeded Eastern on Saturday.
The Mustangs scored early and often, putting up five and eight goals in the first and second quarters, respectively. Senior Dillon Linhardt capitalized on an extra man opportunity at 12:34 in the first via classmate Andrew Searing to get the scoring rally started. First year Darrell Curtis followed with his first of two goals in the quarter, separated by classmate Hunter Bryant scoring the Mustangs' third goal. Junior Grant Zick rounded out the quarter with just eight seconds remaining.
Curtis completed his hat trick less than one minute into the second quarter via classmate Gavin Gossen again. Sophomore Max Racich notched his first of the night shortly after, followed by Linhardt with another man-up goal. Junior Jack Scaliti would score at 5:28 in the second, and added two assists within two minutes on goals by Searing and Gossen. Bryant scored his second of the night via Zick to help the Mustangs increase their lead to ten before the half expired.
Though Messiah turned on their offense in the third, the Mustangs still scored six times to maintain the lead. Darrell Curtis started on a second hat trick with two goals in the third while Max Racich, Grant Zick, Hunter Bryant, and Gavin Gossen each added to their running total on the night.
Stevenson came out strong in the fourth as Curtis completed his second hat trick just 22 seconds in via Scaliti, who turned around and assisted on Gossen's fourth and fifth goals on the night. Scaliti would cap his own night off with a goal late in the final period, followed by first year face-off specialist Bradley Bennett scoring his first collegiate goal. Bennett won a career-high 17 of 22 face-offs and grabbed nine ground balls as well as an assist.
With two minutes to spare, Grant Zick and Max Racich scored the Mustangs 25th and 26th goals, respectively.
Scaliti finished the night with a team-high eight points on two goals and six assists. Gossen followed with five goals and two assists, followed by Curtis' career-best six goals and hat tricks from Racich and Zick. Curtis trailed Gossen with a career-high six ground balls.
The win was the Mustangs' 12th of the season, propelling them to the MAC Commonwealth Championship. This is the first time the Mustangs have hosted the title match since the 2019 season when they bested Lycoming 23-4.
Stevenson faces off against Eastern this Saturday, May 4th, at Mustang Stadium.
