XML Box Score Grantham, PA - The Falcons allowed just two goals in their opening Commonwealth matchup against Hood College en route to a 12-2 win on Anderson Field Wednesday night. Messiah's scorers were led by
Will Franken with four goals on eight shots.
Nate Nester and
Ryan Mayer each collected three assists in the game.
Messiah started out the game strong and Hood just couldn't respond to the offensive pressure. Hood didn't get their first shot off until after they were down 5-0 in the first quarter. Early on it seemed every shot for the Falcons was finding twine.
Dean Patton opened up the scoring 23 seconds into the start for his first goal of his career. Franken later netted two in a row to put the Falcons up 5-0.
Nate Nester and
Andrew Harris then each put away their second goals in the first quarter to pull out to a 7-0 lead.
With 12 minutes on the clock in the second quarter, Hood saw their first solid opportunity to shorten the gap when two Messiah players committed one-minute penalties. Hood was able to get a good shot off quickly with the two-man advantage but
Brooks Arnold made a big save and
Alex Pstrak picked up the rebound.
Messiah was able to kill off the penalties but Hood netted their two goals during a scoreless second quarter for the Falcons to bring the lead to 7-2.
The Falcons got back to scoring in the third quarter with three goals before the fourth minute was up. The third marked Franken's hat trick and his 15th of the season.
The rest of the third quarter though, was where a combined 17 turnovers occurred. In total, Hood turned the ball over 29 times to Messiah's 25.
Messiah collected two more goals in the fourth quarter, again scoring both before the 11-minute mark.
Braden Olson scored his second of the game, which was assisted by Franken. Franken added his fourth of the game with 11:29 on the clock after picking up a loose rebound on a shot by Bry.
Overall, the Falcons led the Blazers on shots 32-19 but were even on caused turnovers (14) and faceoffs (9-18). Messiah collected their third win in a row and improved to 3-4, while the Blazers fell to 3-5 this season with the loss.
The Falcons will next host Lebanon Valley this Saturday, Mar. 29, for a 1:00 p.m. game.
Click on gallery to see higher resolution and to purchase your favorite prints!
