LANCASTER, Pa. - The Messiah men's lacrosse team fell to Franklin & Marshall College this afternoon in a very offensive game 18-17. Garrett Amsbaugh led the team with four goals while Hunter Bellows and Liam Lilienthal notched three goals apiece. Four other Falcons scored in the game for a rather well balance offensive effort. Goalie Evan Stoker tallied 14 saves on the day.

Both teams were pretty evenly matched, although the Diplomats outshot the Falcons 44-39 and had a slight edge in ground balls as well 31-29. Messiah was 12-14 on clears and won 20 of 36 face offs where Lucas Honebrink won 17 of those.

Franklin & Marshall started the game off on a terror scoring six goals in the first quarter, it wasn't until 4:10 mark that Messiah got on the board when Joseph Franken found the back of the net to cut the lead 3-1 but the Diplomats added two more goals to take a 6-1 lead after quarter one.

The second quarter was more about the Falcons as they got off more shots (13-9) and capitalized on opportunities. With just over a minute gone by, Garrett Amsbaugh ripped a shot and then two minutes later Dylan Gillisse scored to pull Messiah within four 7-3. Liam Lilienthal added a goal with 8:59 left but the Diplomats responded with a goal by Kevin Mollhan at the 7:22 mark to keep an edge 8-4. Franken again found the back of the net with about five minutes left in the half and then Luke Hall scored a minute later, however, Luke Keating tallied for Franklin & Marshall to still hold a 9-6 lead. The Falcons ended the half on a 2-0 run including a goal by Amsbaugh right as time expired to cut the advantage down to 9-8 heading into halftime.

The third quarter was very similar to the second as both teams were evenly matched on offense. Franklin & Marshall scored two goals right out of the gates to pull ahead 11-8, but Messiah answered big scoring three-straight goals to take their first lead of the game 12-11 with seven minutes left in the quarter. After a three minute drought, the Diplomats regained the lead 13-12 as George Briggs scored with two minutes remaining in the quarter.

Heading to the final quarter the Falcons were looking to keep up the offense and hold the Diplomats on defense, unfortunately while Messiah put up plenty of shots and tallied five goals, Franklin & Marshall did much of the same tallying five goals. They tallied first at the 13:23 mark but Quentin Johnson answered with a goal just a minute later to pull Messiah within one 14-13, however, just eight seconds after that play Franklin & Marshall managed to tally a goal and go back up by two. They extended that lead to three 17-14 with seven minutes remaining in the game but the Falcons received a big goal from Hunter Bellows to cut the lead 17-15, however, another goal by the Diplomats with just under five minutes to play proved to be the pivotal moment. Messiah was able to tally two more goals, including another late-quarter score from Garrett Amsbaugh but that three-point edge was difficult to combat as they went on to lose 18-17.

Messiah drops to 2-3 with the loss and will be back in action next Wednesday Mar. 14 as they take on Frostburg State University at home with a game time of 7:00 p.m.