Elizabethtown, PA — It may have taken a bit longer than what Messiah head coach Geof Weisenborn would have liked, but the Messiah College men's lacrosse team handed Elizabethtown College a 10-7 defeat Wednesday afternoon, keeping its run of dominance over the Blue Jays in tact.
Messiah (3-3, 1-0) pushed its composite record to 8-1 over Elizabethtown with Wednesday's MAC win, coming back from a 3-0 deficit early on to record its third straight victory of the season.
With E'Town (2-5, 0-1) coming off a salty, 13-12 overtime loss to Moravian College less than a week earlier, Weisenborn said he expected the Blue Jays to come out focused.
His team's response — coupled with several strategic adjustments — were enough to hang on for the win.
“We knew Elizabethtown would come out strong considering their last game, and they took it to us for the first seven or 10 minutes of today's game,” Weisenborn said. “We settled down and better realized the areas of the field we needed to attack.”
The host Blue Jays picked up their 3-0 lead courtesy of a triad of scores encompassing the majority of the first period, as E'Town's Greg Kenneally scored the last of the push with 4:13 remaining in the opening stanza. Senior Bryce Geiman then scored the first of what would be a 4-0 Messiah run with 3:29 to play in the first period, followed by goals from seniors Ian Lee (12:29 in the second quarter) and Nick Ricucci (11:49 in the second).
Geiman then capped the run with another tally at the 10:58 mark, and Messiah led 4-3. Neither team would score for the remainder of the first half.
Weisenborn's squad then opened the second half in similar fashion to the start of the game, allowing an Elizabethtown goal before another offensive push opened things up down the home stretch. The Blue Jays' Josh Dougherty scored just minutes into the third quarter, but solid Messiah defense ended E'Town's hopes of taking the lead. Geiman scored his third goal of the afternoon with just 2:18 to play in the third, which was followed by a score from sophomore Josh Murdock just 16 seconds later.
Murdock then tacked on another goal just 24 seconds into the fourth quarter, and Messiah led by a 7-4 score. E'Town would pull within a 7-6 count with 11:42 to play, but another two scores from senior Tim Sandusky and junior Jeff Ziegler gave the Falcons some breathing room. The teams traded scores in the game's last three and a half minutes, producing the final margin.
The biggest stat of the day came in the face off category, as Messiah controlled an incredible 17 of 21 opportunities, led by sophomore Brent Stewart's 8-11 effort and freshman J.J. Miller's 9-10 mark.
The team also did not turn the ball over in transition, registering a perfect 19 for 19 mark in clears. Senior Ted Oberg finished with 13 saves in goal, manning the cage for the entirety.
“The game was back and forth, but when we scored three goals to go up 7-4, that kind of opened things up for us,” Weisenborn said. “In a game like this, possessions are huge, so we gave our game balls to Brent and J.J. They were outstanding.”
Messiah won its second straight conference opener with the win, while Weisenborn has now guided the team to three straight wins after starting the season 0-3. The team will next get a break from league play, traveling to Hampden-Sydney College Saturday. That game is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
“We made some adjustments today and our guys responded well,” Weisenborn said. “We're starting to settle down defensively, especially in transition. Elizabethtown was picked to finish third in the pre-season coaches' poll, so for us to get our first conference win against a top three team on the road is nice. E'Town is also a big rival, no matter what sport you're playing at Messiah, so this game is always big.”
