Box Score
Elizabethtown, PA – Junior
Heath Kupecky's goal with 1:45 remaining wasn't enough for the Messiah College Falcons to overcome a three-goal deficit Wednesday afternoon against the Blue Jays of Elizabethtown College, falling to the hosts by a score of 10-8.
The Blue Jays pushed the game out of reach as Cory Boushell added an empty-net insurance goal with 0:43 seconds remaining as senior goalie
Steve Kozuhowski (11 saves) left the net to double the ball in attempt to regain possession.
The Falcons started the game off just the way they were hoping.
An early penalty against E'town presented an opportunity for the Falcons to strike first. Attackman
Brian Meenan, playing in just his third game of the season due to injury, found Kupecky for a room-and-time shot from 12 yards. The junior buried it passed the Jays' goalie to start the scoring and put the visitors up 1-0 just three minutes in.
The Blue Jays' responded just over a minute later as a Falcon miscommunication defensively left a wide-open Sean O'Neill on the left wing for the Blue Jays' first goal.
The Falcons and Jays alternated tallies three more times throughout the rest of the first and early second quarters to knot the score at four.
James Baden,
Ryan Mayer, and Meenan scored Falcon goals over the stretch.
E'town would take a 5-4 lead into halftime on a goal from Cory Boushell.
The third quarter proved to be the breaking point for the Falcons.
Despite numerous defensive stands in the quarter, the Falcons couldn't find a way to clear the ball to the offensive end- failing on three of their five attempts. E'town fired 15 of their 31 shots towards the Messiah cage in the third and collected 11 groundballs compared to Messiah's eight.
The Jays took an 8-5 lead into the fourth. The lone Messiah goal was scored unassisted by Meenan, his second on the day.
The Falcons turned up the pressure offensively and defensively in the fourth as the Jays' strategy to hold the ball and kill clock became apparent. The Jays' offense drew multiple stalling calls in the period.
The defensive pressure caused Blue Jay turnovers that the Falcons consistently turned into opportunities offensively.
Despite 15 shots toward E'town goalie Brendan Corcoran, the Falcons managed just three goals in the period and Corcoran had to make only one save. Kupecky's late goal hinted of last Thursday's comeback win against LVC, but Boushell's insurance goal sealed the deal for the Jay's who kept their postseason hopes alive with the win.
The Blue Jays improved their overall record to 6-5 on the season and tallied their first win in the Commonwealth for 2012.
The Falcons fell to 1-1 in the Commonwealth and 6-4 on the season. The Falcons get a break from Commonwealth play as they travel to Courtland, NY for a late-season tilt with out-of-conference foe, St. Lawrence University. Opening face-off is slated for 5:00 p.m. on Saturday April 14.
