XML Box Score Baltimore, MD - Messiah College could not overcome the offensive pressure put on by Goucher College and fell to the Gophers 13-8 on Wednesday night. The Gophers led in shots (47-33), ground balls (36-21), and faceoffs (17-5).
Chris Bry scored a hat-trick for the Falcons while
Will Franken and
Nate Nester followed with two goals each.
Drew Pagenkopf and
Dean Patton picked up the only two assists for the Falcons.
Messiah capitalized on 11 total minutes of man-up time by scoring five times but on even strength the Falcons could not gain possession of the ball. Tristan Morris won 17 of 22 face-offs for the Gophers, keeping the ball away from the Falcons' sticks.
The Falcons did not win a faceoff until midway through the second quarter and came after they scored their first goal to trail 6-1. Messiah got the ball for the scoring possession because of a three-minute, non-releasable illegal equipment penalty on Goucher.
Goucher responded to the Messiah goal by scoring 38 seconds later; still a man down because of the penalty.
The first half ended with Goucher in front 8-2. Franken scored his first of the game with 42 seconds left to reduce the deficit to six.
After the Gophers increased the lead to 10-3 in the third quarter the Falcons turned up the pressure, getting four shots off in a minute before drawing an extra-man opportunity. The Falcons capitalized on the EMO to bring the gap back to six.
Messiah started the fourth quarter with luck on their side as Goucher got called for another illegal equipment penalty. The Falcons scored twice in that three-minute span and followed it up with one more, bringing the Gophers' lead down to four.
Turnovers by the Falcons aided in two more goals by the Gophers around the halfway mark, spelling the end of a hopeful Messiah comeback. In total, Messiah committed 19 turnovers with seven coming in the fourth quarter.
Falcons' turnovers also resulted in 10 failed clears, while the Gophers successfully cleared the ball all 11 times.
With the result, Messiah falls to 0-4 this season, while Goucher improves to 2-4 overall. The Falcons will next play a neutral site game at Stevenson University against Gordon College on Saturday, Mar. 15, at 1:00 p.m.
