FREDERICK, Md. – The Messiah men's lacrosse team trailed the Hood Blazers, 3-2 at the end of the first quarter, but used a second quarter scoring push to take an 8-5 halftime lead. The Falcons continued to hold the momentum in the second half, finishing the game on a 10-3 run to earn an 18-8 MAC Commonwealth win on Thursday night. Today's result clinched a spot in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Championships for the Falcons.

The Falcons offense was generated by the sticks of Garrett Amsbaugh and Dylan Gillisse who combined for nine total goals. Jacob Fahnestock excelled in his second start of the season, stopping 12 shots while allowing just eight goals.

Messiah has scored at least 18 goals in each of their last three meetings with the Balzers and extend their win-streak over Hood to nine-straight games.

The Falcons head into the regular season finale against Stevenson with a four-game conference wining streak and a MAC Commonwealth record of 6-1. 

Teams Trade Early Blows
The Blazers opened the scoring in the first period, scoring three minutes into the contest. A six-minute scoreless period followed, with Liam Lilienthal putting the Falcons on the board. Brandon Witmer found the twine just a minute later and Messiah took a 2-1 lead.

Hood erased the Messiah lead by scoring two goals to end the opening quarter, giving them a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes.

Messiah Finds Its Form
Messiah and Hood each scored two goals to begin the second period, giving the Blazers a 5-4 advantage five minutes into the second. Garrett Amsbaugh scored both of Messiah's goals during the span.

Messiah concluded the first half with four straight tallies coming from Bellows and Gillisse. With seven minutes remaining in the half, Hunter Bellows buried a fast break goal for the first tally of the stretch, tying the game at 5-5. With just two minutes left in the half, the Falcons recorded six straight shots with Gillisse converting on the sixth shot for another goal with 1:38 left in the period. Just 35 seconds later, Bellows buried his second goal of the day after Quentin Johnson won the insuring faceoff.

With time winding down, Gillisse saw an opening in the defense and fired a shot off with 17 seconds on the scoreboard. His goal gave the Falcons an 8-5 as teams headed into the halftime break. After a strong second-quarter charge, Messiah led 27-10 in shots, putting 12 on frame.

Falcons Pull Away
The Falcons kept rolling to start the second half, scoring the first two goals of the period in the opening minute of the third quarter. Those tallies extended the Messiah lead to 10-5. Hunter Bellows continued Messiah the run with a man-up goal and Gillisse followed just 21 seconds later to give Messiah a five-goal lead. Hood responded four minutes later, but the Falcons kept distancing themselves from the Blazers. Cory Hurst captured his first tally of the game and Amsbaugh followed with back-to-back scores in the final seven minutes of the third quarter. After the three-straight tallies, Messiah held a 13-6 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

Amsbaugh kept things rolling, connecting on his final goal of the game just a minute into the period. After Gillisse added another tally to his goal total, Messiah held a 15-6 lead.

The Blazers trimmed the Falcons' lead to eight with two of the next three goals. Messiah held a 16-8 lead with 7:57 remaining in regulation.

The final four minutes of the game were filled with offense for both teams. The two teams combined for 25 total shots, but only two found the back of the net, both in Messiah's favor. Joseph Franken scored with 3:32 remaining on a man-up opportunity and then Christian Santangini followed two minutes later which gave Messiah the 18-8 margin of victory.

What's Up Next
As mentioned above, the Falcons will go head-to-head with the first-place Stevenson Mustangs in the regular season finale on Wednesday, April 24 on their home turf. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.