Grantham, PA – Blake Knobloch tallied four goals and an assist for his third straight hat trick to propel the Falcons of Messiah College over the Pride of Widener University 10-5 in a pivotal MAC Commonwealth game.

Messiah improves to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the MAC Commonwealth, while Widener drops to 5-6 overall and 4-1 in the conference.

Ryan Van Bochoven gave Messiah an early lead when he utilized his large frame to back into a defender for a shot and an unassisted goal. Next, Blake Knobloch ripped a shot past the goalkeeper for his first of four goals and a 2-0 lead for the Falcons at the end of the first quarter.
 
During the second quarter the Pride struck first with 6:50 remaining from a left-handed shot by Kyle Gratz on an extra man opportunity. However, Blake Knobloch stopped Widener's momentum by taking matters into his own hands with back-to-back goals to give the Falcons a 4-1 lead at half.
 
The second half began with Widener creeping their way back into the game with another left handed strike from Kylr Gratz. Tyler Goglio answered with a highlight reel goal where he was falling to the turf and finished a shot in the upper right corner of the net.
 
The Falcons extended their lead to 6-2 when Blake Knobloch found a wide open Trey Hanshew who finished for the goal. Messiah made a costly mistake by handing Widener another extra man opportunity and Kyle Gratz added his third goal with 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
 
Leading 6-3 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Messiah pulled away from Widener by tallying three straight scores. The first came from Blake Knobloch with a blistering shot on an extra man opportunity. Next, Luke Hall and Joseph franked added goals for a 9-3 Messiah lead with 5:48 remaining.
 
Shane Taylor tried to pull the Pride back in the game with a score, but Justin Bradley immediately responded with another goal for the Falcons. Tim Taylor tallied the final goal for the Pride and the game but Messiah held on for the 10-5 victory.
 
Statistically, Messiah edged Widener in shots (48-23), shots on goal (20-11), groundballs (43-27), face offs (10-9), and committed fewer turnovers (13-19).
 
Messiah will be back in action when they travel to Stevenson to take on the Mustangs at 7:00 p.m.