READING, Pa. – The Albright men's lacrosse team was downed 21-7 by Widener in MAC Commonwealth action under the lights at Shirk Stadium on Wednesday.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 0-4 in conference and 4-8 overall. Meanwhile, the Pride improve to 3-1 in conference and 5-6 overall.
 
Senior Cole Genneken fueled Albright's offense with five points on two goals and three assists. Senior Jacob Cunningham followed with three points behind one goal and two assists. Senior Ryan Janowski controlled the back line for the Lions with three caused turnovers and four ground balls.
 
It was a back-and-forth start to the contest as both teams struggled to gain a solid possession. Widener finally broke through at the 10:02-mark with the opening goal of the game and never looked back. The Pride added two more scores throughout the first quarter to hold onto a 3-0 lead.
 
Widener kept their foot on the gas throughout the second frame, scoring three quick goals extending their lead and run to six. Albright finally got on the board and snapped the run at the 9:24 with a goal from sophomore Jon Alvarez and assisted by Cunningham. Senior Alex McKendry followed with a man-up goal off a feed from Genneken at the 6:48-mark to cut the Lions deficit to four. Their momentum was quickly shut down, however, as the Pride capped off the first half with four unanswered goals to claim a 10-2 lead entering the break.
 
Widener continued to build on their lead in the second half with a goal at the 12:09-mark of the third. Genneken found the back of the net for the Lions with the help of first-year Peter Alessi at the 10:19-mark, but was answered with back-to-back scores from the Pride take their first double-digit lead at 13-3. Senior Gasperio Alessi got on the board for the first time in his collegiate career as a defender with an unassisted goal at the 5:49-mark of the third. However, Widener closed out the frame with a big five-goal run to grasp a commanding 18-4 lead entering the fourth quarter.
 
Albright saw back-to-back scores from Cunningham and Genneken to open up the scoring in the fourth. Widener responded with two-straight of their own extending their lead to 20-6 with 2:55 remaining. Both teams found the back of the net once more in the closing minutes, but Widener solidified the 21-7 conference victory.
 
Widener held a sizable 58-37 shot advantage and a 36-20 shot on goal advantage over Albright. The Pride also won the battle in the face off circle 20-12 and held a slight 28-27 ground ball advantage. First-year goalkeeper Ethan Hendershot receives the loss for the Lions despite completing 13 saves in 46:53 minutes of action. Keegan Billie earns the win in net for the Pride with 12 saves in 45 minutes of action.
 
Albright will continue MAC Commonwealth action on Wednesday, April 20^th at 4 p.m. as they travel to Eastern.