YORK, PA – The tenth-ranked York College men's lacrosse team used a big second half to down Widener University 21-7 in a MAC Commonwealth tournament semifinal game on a warm Wednesday in York.
The Spartans had a big third quarter to turn a three-goal game into a nine-goal bulge.
The Spartans improve to 15-3 overall as they have won nine straight. The Pride see their season come to a close with a record of 4-14.
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans kicked off the scoring 2:31 into the game as Colby Berard scored on York's first man-up opportunity of the game off a pass from Cory Bergmann. The Pride hit the Spartans with back-to-back goals as Samuel Haverstrom and Luke Shimko scored to give Widener a 2-1 lead with 4:14 left in the first. The Spartans notched the equalizer on a Coleton Mahorney goal with 3:18 left in the quarter.
• The Spartans started to assert themselves in the second quarter as they outscored the Pride 4-1 in the quarter to take a 6-3 lead at the break. Mahorney scored twice while Gavin Gismondi and Davis Fisher scored for the Spartans in the quarter.
• Widener scored two of the first three goals of the third quarter, cutting the Spartan lead to 7-5. That would be as close as they would get the rest of the way as York ripped off five straight goals to take a 12-5 lead. Bergmann scored twice on the run while Gismondi, Fisher and Berard also scored on the spurt. After Widener tally from Matt Buckley goal, York scored three more goals in the quarter to take a 15-6 lead to the final quarter of play. Blake Morton, Fisher and Gismondi found the back of the net for York to close out the third quarter.
• The Spartans finished off the game with a 6-1 scoring advantage in the fourth to provide for the final 21-7 margin of victory. Nate Schilling, Gismondi, Jake Jackson twice, Joey Yukenavitch, and Dom DeRubbo each scored in the quarter for the Green and White.
 
By the Numbers
The Spartans finished the game holding a 41-29 edge in total shots including a 30-19 advantage in shots on goal … York had a 41-27 bulge in ground balls … York was a perfect 24-24 in clears while Widener was 16-for-19 in the clear … York recorded 12 caused turnovers while Widener had seven … the Spartans had 14 turnovers while the Pride had 15 … the Spartans were again great at the X as they went 20-for-31 at the dot … one black mark in the game for York is they committed six penalties for five minutes … the Pride was 2-for-6 in extra man while York was 2-for-3 … York goalies combined to record 12 saves while Widener's netminders notched nine stops … Samuel Haverstrom and Matt Buckley led the Pride with two goals each … Bryant Maits dished out two assists for Widener … Cole Blum was 10-for-29 at the X for Widener as he had four ground balls and one caused turnover … Keegan Billie made eight saves in goal for the Pride.
 
Spartan Notes
York is now 9-1 all-time against Widener as they have won nine straight in the series … York improves to 8-1 all-time in the MAC Commonwealth tournament … York is now 4-1 in Commonwealth semifinal tournament games … the Spartans are now 3-0 all-time against the Pride in the Commonwealth tournament … the Spartans advance to their fourth MAC Commonwealth championship game in their five seasons in the league … the championship game appearance will be York's eighth conference championship match in the history of the program … York has scored 20 or more goals in five games this season including five times during their nine game win streak … York was perfect on the clear (24-for-24) for the third time this year … York won the battle at the X for the 12^th time overall including nine straight matches … York's six penalties were a season-high while the five minutes of penalty time was their second highest total of the year (6:00 vs. Grove City) … York goalies made 12 saves, the first time they reached double figures since they notched 11 against Albright on April 5 … York goalies have reached double figures in saves in nine games this year … junior Davis Fisher is now four assists away from tying former Spartan great Thomas Pfeiffer in career assists as Fisher has 96 … junior Coleton Mahorney set a new career-high with five points on three goals and two assists … Gavin Gismondi led the Spartans with four goals in the win while he also had an assist for five points … Gismondi also had two ground balls and a caused turnover … Fisher added three goals, an assist, two ground balls and a caused turnover … Cory Bergmann contributed four points on two goals and two assists with three ground balls … Jake Jackson, Colby Berard, and Nate Schilling each chipped in with two goals to the win … Brady Watts continues to get the job done at the X as he was 15-for-19 with ten ground balls and a caused turnovers … Watts has now won 68.1% (92-for-135) of his attempts at the dot … ten different Spartans scored a goal and 13 different Spartans registered a point in the victory.
 
Up Next
The Spartans return to action on Saturday afternoon as they host the 2025 MAC Commonwealth Championship game against the winner of Wednesday night's semifinal between the Stevenson University Mustangs and the Eastern University Eagles. Saturday's championship game will kick off at 3:00 pm at Kinsley Field.