Box Score
By Matt McDermott, GoMessiah.com student manager
Williamsport, PA — With two games left in the regular-season, maybe Messiah was in transition into the post-season. Maybe the team thought it was in the clear.
Whatever the thought, the transition game against Lycoming College suffered.
Although the Falcons had an 8-6 lead with 22 minutes remaining in Tuesday's road MAC contest, the Warriors caused strife in Messiah's midfield and countered with six straight goals in 15 minutes, turning the game completely around and eventually closing out the Falcons 14-10.
“We struggled in the midfield,” senior Phil Wendt said. “We couldn't clear the ball. We came out a little flat, but we struggled all day to clear from defense to offense.”
Messiah (10-4, 8-2), normally strong in the midfield with three experienced seniors in Wendt, Eric Petters, and J.J. Miller, was a shell of itself at Lycoming's Lacrosse Field. The Falcons had capitalized on nearly 78 percent of clear chances on the season, but against the Warriors, the squad only converted on 55 percent, creating a drastic change in the game.
At the start, Messiah and Lycoming (9-6, 8-2) battled back and forth on the scoreboard for the first three scores. Wendt scored his first of two on the day at the 11:24 mark after Lyco went ahead just over a minute into the game. Miller started his big scoring day with 5:05 and 3:32 left in the first to even the game at three goals apiece, starting the streak of four consecutive goals for the Falcons.
But despite the goals for Messiah, possession was all in favor for the Warriors. In the first half alone, Lycoming produced 27 shots to the Falcons' 17 and dominated at collecting ground balls, grabbing seven more than the Falcons in the half.
Looking at the scoring trends, Messiah used the possession they had to its advantage, putting 11 of 17 of their shots on goal, scoring seven in the first half.
But possession and transition was all in favor of the Warriors.
At the start of the second half, Miller added his third goal of the day a little less than eight minutes in, but Lycoming's Josh Perrault started the streak of six unanswered goals in favor of the home team, opening the game wide open.
The Falcons produced just three shots in the third quarter compared to 17 for Lycoming.
Miller added the final two of his five goals on the night to make the score a little closer, but Lycoming's Ethan Payne added his second and third goals to put away the game for the Warriors.
The loss created a three-way tie for the number two spot in the conference between Lycoming, Eastern and Messiah. If each team wins, Messiah would be the number three seed and face Elizabethtown College at Anderson Field in MAC First Round play Monday. For Messiah to earn the First Round bye in the MAC playoffs, FDU-Florham — the current number five seed — would need to beat Lycoming in Williamsport Saturday.
Messiah will honor its seniors Saturday night at Anderson Field as they host King's College, concluding the regular-season with post-season positioning still up for grabs.
Game time is set for 7 p.m.
