GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah College men's lacrosse team began their 2019 campaign with a 16-11 loss to the No. 6 Gettysburg Bullets. Early in the third quarter, Messiah held a 9-7 lead after back-to-back goals by Joseph Franken and Dylan Gillisse, but the Bullets finished Saturday afternoon's game on a 9-2 run to close out the victory.
Junior Cory Hurst led the Falcons, scoring three goals while junior Garrett Amsbaugh and senior Joseph Franken recorded two goals and two assists each. Junior Liam Lilinethal was a crucial part of the offense, dishing out a team-high three assists. Junior goalkeeper Evan Stoker stopped six shots.
Early Charge
The Falcons began the game, scoring four unanswered goals in the first seven and a half minutes of play. Steven Dunn, Hunter Bellows, Hurst and Amsbaugh all recorded goals on the early run with Amsbaugh's man-up tally giving the Falcons a 4-0 advantage 7:24 into the contest.
The Bullets responded with three goals of their own, cutting the Messiah lead down to just one at 4-3. Elon Tuckman fueled the run with a pair of goals. After the Bullets pulled within one, Amsbaugh notched his second score of the game off an assist from Liam Lilienthal to put the Falcons up by two. A tally from Gettysburg's Jack Harvey with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half cut Messiah's lead to one at 5-4. An eight-minute scoreless stretch followed until Lilinethal netted his first goal of the season with 3:50 left in the second period. Gettysburg's offense began to form, firing two goals at the end of the period, tying the game at 6-6 as the teams head into halftime.
Not only was the game tied on the scoreboard at the half, many statistical categories were close as well. Messiah held a slim lead in shots, 18-17, while both teams were perfect on clear attempts. Gettysburg had one more groundball (21-20), but held a substantial 6-1 advantage in faceoff wins, leading 6-1 at the half.
Falcons Respond After Halftime
The Bullets had the first goal of the second half as Andrew Horn scored two minutes into the period. The goal grabbed Gettysburg its first lead of the day. Messiah quickly regained the lead by ripping three shots past the Bullets' goalie Scott MacMillan in a two minute span. Franken netted a pair and Dylan Gillisse scored once to put the Falcons up 9-7 with 10:03 remaining in the period.
Led by three goals from Gettysburg's Michael McCormick, the Bullets ended the quarter with four-straight goals and took an 11-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Bullet's Second-Half Run
Following the Gillisse's score with 10 minutes left in the third period, the Bullets' went on a 9-2 run to close out the game and earn a 16-11 victory. Including three goals at the end of the third, Gettysburg's McCormick scored four of the first five goals on the Bullets' run and helped Gettysburg to a 13-9 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Messiah was able to put two on the board in the final quarter with a pair of tallies by Corey Hurst, but the Bullets continued to increase their lead, eventually earning the five-goal victory.
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 20 when they welcome Southern Virginia University to Grantham for a 4:00 p.m. game. Messiah and Southern Virginia have never faced each other.
