WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Messiah men's lacrosse was never able to extend their lead to more than two goals, but managed to hold on for an 11-9 victory over Lycoming College on Saturday afternoon.

The Falcons improve to 6-4 on the year and remain undefeated in the MAC Commonwealth at 3-0, while Lycoming falls to 6-2 and 2-1 in the conference.

Messiah was actually outshot in the game 41-31, but the Falcons held an advantage in shots on goal by one, 19-18. Joseph Franken and Hunter Bellows tallied three goals apiece for Messiah, with Franken adding two assists and Bellows one helper. Garrett Amsbaugh also notched two goals for his fifth multi-goal game of the season. Lucas Honebrink was solid at the faceoff circle, winning 14 of 22 attempts, and Evan Stoker recorded nine saves in goal in the winning effort.

The Falcons wasted no time in getting into the scoring column, as Brandon Witmer put the visitors up 1-0 just 51 seconds into the game. Messiah won the resulting faceoff, and after a couple of wayward shots, tallied again as Amsbaugh found the net to double the Falcon lead less than three minutes into the contest.

However, Messiah fell victim to a scoring drought over the next 20 minutes, as Lycoming scored four unanswered goals to take a 4-2 lead with nine minutes left before the half. The Falcons were able to stem the tide, though, as Bellows scored off a feed from Witmer and Franken added another with Bellows on the assisting end this time to knot the score at four going into the break.

A big moment in the game happened right before halftime, as Lycoming's Cole Masterson received a three-minute illegal crosse penalty with 29 seconds left, which as a result saw the majority of the man-up opportunity for the Falcons carry over into the third quarter. Messiah took full advantage as Steven Dunn and Franken both were able to put through goals before both sides were again at even strength, giving the Falcons a 6-4 lead early in the third period.

The Warriors and Falcons traded scores for the rest of the quarter as Messiah held on to an 8-7 advantage heading into the final 15 minutes. After over six minutes of scoreless action to begin the final stanza, Lycoming's Andrew Ream scored his team and conference-leading 31st goal of the season to tie the game at eight.

The score would not be tied for long, though, as Messiah dominated possession over the next seven minutes and tallied twice off the sticks of Bellows and Amsbaugh to go up by two. Drew Collins brought the Warriors back to within one with a goal with 90 seconds left, but a Liam LIlenthal score in the final seconds preserved the victory for the Falcons.

Messiah returns to the turf on Wednesday, Apr. 11 when they host Widener at 7:00 p.m.