MCMURRAY, Pa. - Messiah men's lacrosse battled back to force overtime with Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday, but the Battling Bishops put through a goal just 35 seconds into the extra period to take down the Falcons by a score of 11-10.

This was the third-straight year that the Falcons and Bishops faced off on neutral turf, as the game was played at Peters Township H.S. in the Pittsburgh area, and this was the closest that Messiah has come to pulling out a win as they were tied at 10 at the end of regulation. Messiah scored the last two goals of regular time, coming from Liam Lilienthal with 2:58 to play before Luke Hall evened things up with just 30 seconds remaining.

Lilienthal and Garrett Amsbaugh led the Falcons with three goals apiece, and Amsbaugh added an assist for a team-leading four points on the afternoon. The team totals were about as even as they could be, as Messiah and OWU each tallied 35 shots with the Falcons notching one more shot on goal (21-20). 

Slow to Start
After Dylan Gillisse opened the scoring with a goal just over a minute into the game, the Battling Bishops scored six of the next seven goals to take a 6-2 lead with a minute and five seconds remaining in the first-half. Messiah was able to get one back though just before time expired, as Drew Gugliuzza caused a turnover with 18 seconds to play and the Falcons were able to get down the field quickly to set up an Amsbaugh score off a feed from Jaryn Ruth with just five seconds on the clock.

Momentum Carried
Messiah built on the energy from that last-second tally to open the second-half with three more unanswered goals to tie the game at six, consisting of Amsbaugh's second of the game and one each from Lilienthal and Quentin Johnson. The Falcons put just four shots on goal in the third period, but were able to send three into the netting. 

Battling Bishops Battle Back
Ohio Wesleyan countered with a 4-2 run over a ten-minute stretch between the four-minute mark of the third quarter and the nine-minute mark of the final period. With the Bishops ahead by two, neither team was able to score over the next six minutes thanks to the heroics of Falcon goalie Evan Stoker, who saved all five of OWU's shot attempts over during that period. 

Lilienthal and Hall's scores provided plenty of late-game drama to force extra time, but after Gugliuzza picked up the ground ball off the overtime-opening faceoff, a costly turnover gave the ball back to OWU and they were able to score on their second shot attempt to earn the victory.

Messiah falls to 0-2 on the young season, while the Battling Bishops improve to 2-1 on the year.

Next Up
Messiah will now look to their first home game of 2018 as they host Grove City College on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7:00 p.m.