Box Score
Collegeville, PA – The Messiah College Falcons couldn't complete the comeback Saturday afternoon against the Bears of Ursinus College, trailing by as many as four goals on two separate occasions and cutting the lead to just one late in the contest. The Falcons fell by a score of 13-10.
The Bears' ability to kill off a three-minute non-releasable penalty with less than six minutes remaining in the contest proved to be the tipping point for the Falcons, as they couldn't close the two-goal deficit in the waning moments. The Bears' Steve Smyrl added an insurance tally with just 0:46 left on the clock to ice the game.
Senior
Heath Kupecky once again led the Falcons in scoring as he again tallied two goals and added two helpers. Sophomores
Ryan Mayer and
Andrew Harris also found the net twice.
Three goals and one assist by Jake Weber led the Bears offensively.
The Falcons and Bears would trade goals over the first seven and a half minutes of play and again over the next four minutes for a 2-2 tie late in the first. An unnecessary roughness penalty—one that suggests the physicality of the game from the opening faceoff— called on the Falcons'
Matt Emerson would put the Bears up a man late in the stanza. Ursinus would capitalize on the extra-man opportunity and add another goal late in the first to take a 4-2 lead into the second.
Two quick goals in the second from the hosts had the Falcons looking up at their first four goal deficit of the contest but a quick two-goal response of their own would cut the lead back to two. Mayer netted his first of the contest with a laser to the upper right corner of the goal from 10 yards out and
Brian Meenan found twine just six seconds later off a fast-break faceoff win from Emerson. Kupecky added a tally on a blast from 15 yards out midway through the period to pull the Falcons within just one, 6-5.
The Bears and Weber would respond again, scoring two straight to extend their lead back to three. But just before half, Mayer would score in similar fashion to his first, putting a well placed shot past Bears' keeper Brian Neff for an 8-6 halftime deficit.
The high energy, fast-paced play that characterized the first 30 minutes of play continued in the second half as the tough, physical play from both teams only seemed to escalate.
The Bears jumped out to another four-goal lead with five minutes elapsed in the period on goals from Weber and Mike Neal. But the Falcons were yet to pack it up for the trek back to Grantham.
A four-to-one run ensued for the Falcons, as they would score twice—one each from
Kevan Schellenberg and Kupecky—during a two-minute non-releasable penalty called against the Bears' Steve Smyrl. The two goals pulled the Falcons again within one.
A goal from the Bears stretched the lead back to two before the Falcons went on the man-up opportunity for three minutes as a result of the Bears' Ryan Ridinger's illegal body check to the Falcons' Emerson. Unable to convert on the extended man-up opportunity due to miscues offensively, the Falcons simply ran out of time to overcome the Bears.
“I thought overall the game was just back and forth and our guys really responded well to adverse situations out there,” head coach Geof Weisenborn said following the game. “Unfortunately, we made a few mental mistakes in critical moments that we needed them if we were to get a win.”
The Falcons collected 37 groundballs in the game, nearly matched by the Bears 36. At the faceoff X the Falcons nearly doubled up the Bears by winning 16 of the 25 faceoffs in the game. The Falcons went 12-13 clearing the ball and sent 38 shots toward the opposing net.
The loss drops the Falcons to 1-2. Ursinus, playing in their first game this season, improved to 1-0.
The Falcons return to action Wednesday (3/6) as they take on Neumann University at 4 p.m.
