Grantham, PA — Early in Saturday's game against visiting Neumann College, Messiah head coach Geof Weisenborn did not like what he was seeing.
The Falcons had fallen behind by a 2-0 score, giving up a pair of goals in egregious fashion.
Good thing Weisenborn's troops finished with a stronger push than the flattest of openings.
Messiah scored six of its 12 total goals in the last 18:35 worth of game clock, turning a 6-5 lead into an eventual 12-6 win — the team's second victory in as many tries at Anderson Field on the year.
“It was a slow start for us,” Weisenborn said following the win. “I expected us to come out with more intensity, discipline and effort, and we did not. I'm not looking for starting slow and pulling out wins late. We have to come out with better intensity, better communication.”
Messiah (2-1) basically handed Neumann (0-1) its first goal of the season at the midway point of the first quarter, as senior goalie Greg Latimer made a nice save on a Knights' shot attempt. Sadly, he mishandled the ensuing clear, giving the ball right back to a Knights' attackman who promptly put the gift away.
The Falcons' second goal allowed wasn't much better, as Neumann's Matt Toth was able to cut back against the grain to score a one-hopper with 1:49 remaining in the period.
“Their first goal was just a physical mistake by Greg, and I thought, 'Okay, it's a slow start,'” Weisenborn said. “Their second goal was a defensive lack of discipline on our part, though. We had to get back to playing our type of lacrosse.”
Junior Nate Windon helped spurn an offense that was sluggish early, taking advantage of a man-up situation to get Messiah on the board with 45 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Windon utilized an assist from senior Jeff Ziegler to pull within one, while Ziegler tied the game less than a minute into the second quarter — taking a feed from sophomore Grant Leichty and finishing.
Toth got Neumann a 3-2 lead with 12:26 to go in the half, but four straight goals from Messiah — Ziegler scored the first, junior Brent Stewart the second and fourth and sophomore J.J. Miller the third — put the Falcons up by a 6-3 score at the half.
“Different defenses give you different looks, and (Neumann) used adjacent pressure to deny some of our ball movement,” Weisenborn said. “It took us awhile to do the things we needed to do to relieve some of that pressure on the perimeter.”
The Knights again came out strong, scoring the first two goals of the third period, but Messiah would finish stronger. Neumann goals at the 14:38 and 10:12 mark were answered by talies from Stewart and Miller at the 3:35 and 3:31 markers, setting up a brilliant finish from the Falcons. A goal from Neumann's Tom Hedrick would pull the visitors to an 8-6 difference to open the final quarter, but four straight Falcons' scores would finalize the scoring. Sophomore Pete Owens ripped a shot into the back of the net with 8:50 to play, while sophomore Phil Wendt and Ziegler followed with man-up goals at the 6:21 and 5:37 marks. Freshman James Baden finished off the scoring with an unassisted rifle at the 5:00 juncture, concluding a 59-37 advantage in total shots for the hosts.
“We took advantage of some transition opportunities and man-up situations, and eventually made the necessary adjustments,” Weisenborn said.
Ziegler and Stewart paced the Falcons' scoring, each tallying three goals. Miller added two, while Ziegler led a total five assists with two.
Messiah picked up 45 ground balls to Neumann's 19, winning 16 of 22 total face-offs. Miller led that category with an 11-16 performance, while Stewart captured 5-6. Latimer played nearly the entire game in goal, finishing with 15 saves.
“Grant Leichty did a great job of starting transition for us today, as did J.J. Miller,” Weisenborn said. “J.J. was again really strong in face-off X, and Brent Stewart was also key for us in transition and in picking up some goals. I'm more concerned with our mentality going in to the game today. We've got to be better than we were early if we want to beat the teams we want to beat this year. Anytime you give an opponent a little momentum early, you're in for a long day.”
Messiah will take to the road for its next contest, traveling to neighboring rival York College Wednesday. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
