ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Messiah men's lacrosse team and Lebanon Valley headed into the final quarter tied 7-7. The Falcons scored six-straight goals in the final 15 minutes en route to a 13-7 victory over the Dutchman on Saturday afternoon at Arnold Field. Liam Lilienthal led the Falcons' attack with four goals.

The Falcons' win boosted Messiah's winning streak to three games and conference record of 5-1. Today's win extended the Falcons' series winning streak against the Dutchmen to six games.

Lilienthal gave the Falcons their first tally of the fourth, scoring eight seconds into the period. Garrett Amsbaugh, Dylan Gillisse and Joseph Franken followed with goals which brought the Falcons advantage to 11-7. Cory Hurst secured the 13-7 Messiah win by scoring the final two goals of the game.

In the "X", Lucas Honebrink went 19-24, picking up 14 groundballs. Evan Stoker stopped 15 shots and collected a .682 save percentage on the day. Stoker improved to 7-3 on the season.

Dutchmen Control First-Half Pace
Matt Torrence of Lebanon Valley started the scoring with the only two goals of the first quarter. The first tally came just two minutes into the contest before he doubled the Dutchmen's lead with five minutes remaining in the opening period. The Dutchmen added another tally three minutes into the second quarter.

The Dutchmen held the Falcons scoreless for the first 23 minutes of Saturday's contest until Lilienthal got Messiah on the board with a tally seven minutes before the end of the first half. Messiah rattled off two more goals to tie the game at 3-3 off shots from Franken and Amsbaugh.

Lebanon Valley took the lead back with a goal just seven seconds before the half. The Dutchmen tally sent the teams into halftime with Lebanon Valley ahead 4-3.

Messiah Chips Away At The Deficit
The Dutchmen got on the board just over a minute in to the third quarter when Torrence scored to give the Lebanon Valley the 5-3 advantage.

The Falcons responded when Quentin Johnson picked up the ground ball and found a driving Hunter Bellows. He would find the back of the net, closing the gap to one at 5-4. Just a minute later, the Dutchmen regained a two-goal lead off the stick of Torrence, his fourth of the day.

A turning point for the Falcons came with under five minutes remaining in the third quarter. Lilienthal closed the gap to one at 6-5 off the feed of Franken at the 4:59 mark. Just 10 seconds later, Dylan Gillisse added himself to the Messiah scoring list, snipping a shot into the twine and tying the game at 6-6. Another quick goal from Lilenthal just a minute later concluded a 3-0 Messiah run and gave the Falcons their first lead of the game at 7-6.

Torrence knotted the game with just 16 second left on the clock in the third quarter and the game headed to the final period tied at 7-7.

Messiah Pulls Away
The Falcons wasted no time getting on the board in the fourth quarter. Lucas Honebrink won the opening faceoff of the period and quickly dished to the attacking Lilienthal who scored just eight seconds into the period. A similar sequence happened just 44 seconds later as Honebrink claimed the faceoff victory and gave it to Amsbaugh,who drove through the defense and picked up his second tally of the day.

Lebanon Valley was then called for an offside penalty which gave the Falcons an extra-man opportunity. Messiah converted, extending the lead to three at 10-7 thanks to a score by Gillisse with 10:42 remaining in the game. After the score, the Dutchmen called a timeout to attempt to slow the Falcons' momentum.

The timeout did little to stop the Falcons from scoring. Off the ensuing faceoff, Honebrink collected another win and a few seconds later, Franken ripped a shot into the back of the cage with 10:06 remaining, opening the Falcons lead to 11-7.
 
Already leading by four in the final seven minutes, the Falcons registered two more tallies down the stretch with Cory Hurst collecting both tallies. Hurst's goals was enough for Messiah to earn the 13-7 triumph.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will take a break from conference play and travel to Stockton University for their final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday, April 16 at 7:00 p.m. The Ospreys are 12-2 overall and 4-0 in conference and are currently riding on a five-game winning streak.