By Matt McDermott, GoMessiah.com student manager
Wilkes-Barre, PA — Thus far this season, the crux of head coach Geof Weisenborn's Messiah lacrosse team has been defense.
Saturday's match against King's College was no different.
The Falcons traveled to McCarthy Stadium and put on a clinic, dethroning the Monarchs by a score of 9-3 — marking the third time in the last four games that Messiah has limited its opponent to five goals or fewer.
On the opposite side of the field, the offense didn't miss a beat, roaring out of the gate to a two-goal advantage thanks to the stick of junior
Eric Petters. Petters' game-opening score came just two minutes in: After entering the zone, the Ephrata, Pa. native found a slight an opening and stuck his fourth goal of the season.
Less than two minutes later, Petters scored his second of three off of senior
John Murdock's passing ability. After Murdock created space for his teammate, a quick and crafty pass allowed Petters to shoot with space in front of him.
But credit King's for their resilience, as a goal by freshman Lenny Fox at the 6:54 mark slashed the lead in half, and after a costly turnover by the Falcons' midfield, the Monarchs countered quickly as senior Rusty Booth received a pass in transition from classmate Brendan Novotny and scored with one second remaining in the first quarter.
Yet, despite the 2-2 tie at the end of the first period, Weisenborn said his team was exceptional.
“I thought we played well, especially from the beginning,” Weisenborn said. “We had a lot of shots and very few of them were poor (looks). And when the guys did miss the great chances, they didn't miss by much.”
And even though it was King's (4-5, 2-3) that carded the last-second goal to end the period, it was Messiah (4-5, 3-2) that somehow regained momentum, dominating all phases of the game as it went on. Weisenborn's club notched six goals in the next two periods, three of which came within a three-minute span after the second half face-off, capped off by Petters' third goal of the day.
Senior
Nate Windon chalked up two more goals, increasing his team-leading total to 14. Freshman
Heath Kupecky continued to rack up points for the Falcons as his goal and assist for the Falcons puts his points total at 14, coming in six of his seven games played.
With a 8-2 lead after three quarters of play, Weisenborn said what flows on offense is a byproduct of what his defense emanates.
“(The defensemen) are great athletes and are very smart,” Weisenborn said. “I knew we could always play this well; we have the guys that can play at a consistent level. At halftime I encouraged them and we made a few adjustments just to remind them of what (King's) offense was doing and how we should be playing. They continued to show how well they can play.”
And one of the main reasons why the defense is playing so well?
Look no further than the man fortifying the cage: Sophomore
Josh Stewart.
“The defensemen are comfortable with Josh in the cage for us,” Weisenborn added. “He has really come to form these last few weeks and it has been evident the last few games for us.”
In the last three, the Falcon defense has shut down their opponents' offense in eight of the 12 total periods, and in that two-hour game-time span, Messiah has allowed zero goals and only 10 in the other four periods. In conference play, Weisenborn's squad posts a MAC-best 4.41 goals against average and is third in saves per game with 14.
Against King's, the defense would similarly not falter, as the hard-hitting and controlled back line went 20-23 on clears with Stewart saving 13 shots that were on goal.
Weisenborn said that, despite opening the season 0-3, he was confident in his team from the beginning.
“Overall, we are playing well right now,” Wesienborn said. “But we can still improve and continue our success. We play DeSales and FDU this week and both are going to be good games. DeSales knocked us out of the playoffs by one goal last year and FDU won (the MAC Championship) last year and they are still a good team. It is too early to look at the playoff picture but after these next two games, things will be a little clearer.”
Messiah is set to face DeSales University Wednesday at Anderson Field. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. The team will then travel to 2009 league champion FDU-Florham the following Saturday, with game time set for 1 p.m. in Madison, New Jersey.
