By Matt McDermott, GoMessiah.com student manager
Annville, Pa — Over the last 25 years, Messiah College is undefeated against conference opponent Lebanon Valley College.
Their record?
A perfect 1-0.
That's right. The Falcons pushed around the Flying Dutchmen to keep their momentum rolling, blasting 15 goals past the resurrected LVC program in the Messiah's third win in the past four games and the team's second in MAC play.
Facing a school that hadn't housed a lacrosse team since the 1985 season, Messiah (3-4, 2-1) made quick work of Lebanon Valley (2-5, 0-3), while head coach Geof Weisenborn said it was a total team effort.
“(The shutout in lacrosse) is a tough accomplishment,” he said. “It doesn't happen that often because of the speed and the ability to score at will. If you figure that an average lacrosse team scores eight to 10 goals in a game, being able to stop a team entirely is excellent. If one guy lapses on defense or the entire side for just 20 seconds, the other team is able to score.”
Which is why Weisenborn praised his entire team for the goose egg — Messiah's first since a 22-0 blasting of Alvernia University April 8 of last year.
“This is a testament to our middies, defensemen, and to (sophomore) Josh (Stewart) in goal,” Weisenborn added. “When we go 22 of 24 on defensive clears, that is just a great showing of how well everyone was playing for the entire game.”
It wasn't just the mids and defense's turn to shine, however. The Falcons attack did not miss a beat either, registering a season-high 51 shots, including 33 on goal. Again, another total team effort.
“Yes we had 51 shots, but the most impressive thing I saw from our attack was how spread out the goals were, “Weisenborn said. “Not one guy had more than two goals and we kept passing and looking for quality shots to take. We don't just have one primary shooter, but the attackers are selfless and always looking for the best chance to score, not just their chance to score.”
But that attack didn't pick up until 16 seconds left in the first period, where freshman Kyle Sproles would find his fourth goal of the year. From there on, however, the Falcons picked up exponentially, scoring five and six goals in the next two periods off 29 total shots.
“We started slow and we did not expect it to be 1-0 at the end of the first period,” Weisenborn said. “But we made adjustments and I felt we relaxed after that first score at the end of the first, and the guys started to play more consistent from there.
Senior Nate Windon continued his scoring output by posting two goals for the Falcons, increasing his team-leading total to 12, while a trio of freshmen, Heath Kupecky, Matt Emerson and Hayden Geating, added two goals a piece — the pair for Geating serving as his first two collegiate goals.
Messiah was able to put together its greatest offensive performance of the year despite the absence of pre-season All-American junior J.J. Miller, who was out due to illness. His adept groundball and faceoff ability was noted — the Falcons' midfielders went 6-18 on the day, a distant 33 percent to Millers 68.3 percent season average — but it was hard to discredit the mids that took the faceoffs in Miller's absence.
“For being freshmen (Sproles and Emerson), I though they did an okay job,” Weisenborn said. “LVC's faceoff guy was strong and good at what he does. I think this just shows at how much an advantage we have with J.J. Kyle and Matt will get their times and reps and with that they will get stronger and better at them, especially behind a guy like J.J.”
Now, the focus switches to where the team is now: The present. After starting the year with three straight losses, Messiah has won three of its last four, including two out of the team's first three league games.
“Our focus right now is on us, practice, each play, each possession and each guy on the team getting better,” Weisenborn added. “We will continue to grow after we keep playing well. Against Lycoming, we will push forward with our confidence being in our defense and knowing that our attack is rolling along. We'll play to our standards and we'll look to keep winning.”
Lycoming College will visit Anderson Field next, facing Messiah Wednesday night under the lights. Face-off is set for 7 p.m.
