Grantham, PA – Seven different Falcons scored and Messiah College led for most of the way in an 8-6 win over Gwynedd Mercy on Saturday afternoon. Matthew Franken tallied twice to lead the way and help improve the team to 2-4 this season.
 
Tony McGraw scored three times for the Griffins but they could not get even with the Falcons in the second-half. The loss dropped Gwynedd Mercy to 1-3.
 
Messiah led 3-2 at the half thanks to a late goal from Justin Bradley. Franken collected the assist on the goal after sharp ball movement led to Bradley's quick shot right side. Moments later Sam Stengel saved a buzzer-beating attempt by Tommy Belmont and the teams went to the break.
 
Franken scored less than five minutes into the third quarter to double the Messiah lead, and later in the frame Trey Hanshew put through an underhand shot from the crease off a shuffle from Joseph Franken.
 
Late the third quarter Messiah led 5-3 before Ryan Van Bochoven bounced through a score off short pass from Tyler Goglio with 38 seconds to play. 
 
The Griffins had a good chance to earn a goal back thanks to a slash on Brady Marburger at the end of the third. Gwynedd Mercy carried 52 seconds into the final quarter but Messiah forced an errant pass to earn the ball back.
 
Matthew Franken came close to another goal a moment later but his shot hit the post. The Griffins took advantage with a straight run at the goal and score from Dillon Cave to make it 6-4.
 
With 10:09 remaining Luke Hall made it a three-goal lead again with a dodge on the left side and furious finish on the post. That tally was significant as the Griffins scored twice more to make it 7-6 with 5:28 to play.
 
Messiah sealed the game almost two minutes later off a perfect shot from Chris Bry. Bradley moved the ball to Bry on the right side, and he fired it through on a sharp angle between the post and the stick of goalie Sean Myers.
 
Despite picking up two more shots in the final minutes the Griffins could not recover and lost by the 8-6 score.
 
Five different players collected assists for Messiah, and Dean Patton led all Falcons with six groundballs. Isaac Zorn and Brady Marburger each grabbed three groundballs, and Marburger went 8-17 at the faceoff X.
 
Messiah will look to make it a winning streak next Saturday when they travel to play Adrian College in Michigan. Game time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.