mlax32319
13
Winner Eastern EASTERN 3-5
9
Messiah MESSIAH 3-4
Winner
Eastern EASTERN
3-5
13
Final
9
Messiah MESSIAH
3-4
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Eastern EASTERN 4 5 2 2 13
Messiah MESSIAH 3 1 4 1 9

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Men's Lacrosse Falters Against Eastern

GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah men's lacrosse team dropped their final tune-up before the start of conference play on Saturday night with a 13-9 loss to the Eastern Eagles on the Lacrosse Turf. Liam Lilienthal, Dylan Gillisse and Joseph Franken each scored two goals and Lilienthal adding two assists in the defeat.

The Falcons drop to 3-4 on the season while Eastern moves to 4-6 on the year.

Messiah ended the match with a 50-32 advantage on shots and only missed one clear attempt (14-15). In net, Evan Stoker saved five shots while Jacob Fahnestock stopped four saves while splitting time between the pipes.

Back And Forth Affair
The Eagles scored three of the first four goals of the game, and held an early 3-1 lead with under four minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Messiah responded with back-to-back goals from Joseph Franken to bring Messiah even at 3-3, but just over a minute later Eastern's Colin Piper scored to end the period and give Eastern thea lead back at 4-3.

Messiah quickly answered Piper's goal with a tally by Gillisse just 23 seconds into the second quarter to tie the game at 4-4. Liam Lilenthal earned the assist on the game-tying tally.

Eastern's Rally
Following Gillisse's goal early in the second, the Eagles scored five unanswered goals in the remainder of the half from sticks fo Sam Emig and Anthonio Yeoman. Eastern took a 9-4 lead into the half, despite the Falcons and Eagles each taking 19 shots in the opening 30 minutes.

At halftime, Messiah and Eastern were both perfect on clear attempts while picking up the same amount of groundballs (15). Eastern however controlled two-thirds of the faceoffs, 10-5. 

Even Finish
The two teams were scoreless for more than five minutes to open the third period until Lilienthal tallied for the first Messiah goal in over 20 minutes. Bellows knocked in his first goal of the game off a quick turn on the right side with 5:59 remaining in the period, which cut the deficit to three at 9-6.

Eastern and Messiah both found the back of the net two more times in the final five minutes of the period, with Messiah netting goals from Lilenthal and Garrett Amsbaugh. The goal from Amsbaugh came with just two seconds left in the quarter and made it an 11-8 game heading to the fourth.

A Defensive Fourth
The Falcons took control early in the fourth quarter with six of the first eight shots in the quarter, including an attempt by Franken that rattled off the post. Messiah was unable to connect during the opening push and Eastern's Colin Piper slotted one past the goalie for the first goal of the period with 8:19 remaining in the game.

Messiah would score their only goal of the final period off a turnover in the midfield. The Falcons pushed forward and found Cory Hurst for his eighth goal of the season.

The Eagles tallied the final goal by Yeoman with just under three minutes remaining and they held on for the 13-9 victory.

Inside The Box Score
Franken fired a team-high 11 shots, putting six on frame. He scored two goals and added one assist. Quentin Johnson recorded a team-high five groundballs.

What's Up Next
As mention, Messiah will head to Lycoming for the first conference game of the season on Wednesday, March 27 at 7:00 p.m.