GRANTHAM, Pa. - Messiah men's lacrosse had little trouble with visiting Goucher College on Wednesday night, leading from start to finish as the Falcons defeated the Gophers 14-5.
 
Messiah improves to 2-2 on the year, while Goucher falls to 3-3.
 
Five different Falcons tallied multiple goals, led by Joseph Franken with four scores and two assists for six points. Dylan Gillisse added three tallies and Luke Hall, Hunter Bellows, and Lucas Honebrink notched two goals apiece. Messiah outshot Goucher 42-29 in the game, including 22-9 on goal.
 
With temperatures dipping into the 30s, Messiah did not let the cold bother them as the Falcons raced out to a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Liam Lilienthal and Joseph Franken got the scoring started for Messiah, followed by back-to-back rips from distance by Hunter Bellows.
 
Just 26 seconds into the second period, Franken made it 5-0 by running around and through at least five Gopher defenders before firing in an easy shot from point-blank range. Goucher countered with a bit of a run over the next four minutes, as Matt Woodson and Jeremy Buckler tallied for the Gophers to cut the Messiah lead to 5-2.
 
After Buckler's goal, Lucas Honebrink won the resulting face-off, picked up the groundball, and proceeded to sprint down the field and slip in a goal before the Goucher defense knew what hit them. Franken and Luke Hall followed with goals in a span of 43 seconds to push the Falcon lead to 8-2 with 7:54 remaining in the first-half. Woodson would cut the deficit to five with an impressive goal from a seemingly impossible angle at the 2:28 mark, but a score from Dylan Gillisse and another quick tally off the face off from Honebrink brought Messiah's lead back up to seven, 10-3, just 24 seconds after Woodson's goal.
 
Goucher would not go down quietly, opening the third quarter with back-to-back goals to cut the Falcon advantage to five with 6:50 remaining in the period. However, that was as close as the Gophers would come, as they were held off the scoreboard for the rest of that frame and shut out over the entire fourth quarter.
 
Two goals from Gillisse and one more apiece from Franken and Hall sealed the 14-5 victory for Messiah, as they took down Goucher for the third-straight season.
 
Messiah has a tough test ahead in their next contest as the Falcons travel to No. 12 Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, with the opening face-off scheduled for 1:00 p.m.