CHESTER, Pa. – The Messiah men's lacrosse team traded blows with the Widener Pride in Wednesday night's MAC Commonwealth contest, but the Pride held on for an 18-16 decision. The Falcons were led by the stick of Garrett Amsbaugh who scored a team-high four goals.

The Falcons fall to 5-5 overall and 1-1 in the MAC Commonwealth while the Pride improve to 3-8 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

Between the pipes, Evan Stoker saved a total of 12 shots for the Falcons. Dylan Gillisse, Joseph Franken and Hunter Bellows showed their offensive presence, scoring three goals each. In addition to his hat trick, Gillisse collected four of Messiah's eight assists.

Messiah is next in action on Saturday night when they host Albright at 7:00 p.m.

Back-And-Forth Battle
Less than three minutes into the match, Messiah earned a 1-0 lead off the stick of Franken. After Franken's tally, Widener responded with two straight goals, but Bellows and Gillisse answered for the Falcons with consecutive goals to end the period. The two scores gave Messiah a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Pride began the second quarter by going on a 4-1 run. The burst allowed Widener to open up a 6-4 advantage with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The Falcons battled back, tying the game at 6-6 on scores by Amsabugh and Steven Dunn in the next four minutes.

With time in the half winding down, Widener's Gavin Kirkwood connected with 4:49 remaining in the second quarter. Following Kirkwood's tally, the Pride and Falcons each connected for two goals, giving the Pride a slim 9-8 lead at the break.

High Scoring Second-Half
After the break, Messiah and Widener combined for a total of 17 goals in the final 30 minutes of play. Both attacks picked up the pace down the stretch with those 17 combined goals coming on just 42 total shots.

After Messiah netted the first goal of the third quarter, two consecutive face-off wins by Widener began a 5-1 run for hte Pride. The streak made it a 14-10 game with 5:25 remaining in the period.

The Falcons scored two of the final three goals in the third quarter, but trailed 15-12 as the game headed into the final quarter.

After exchanging man-up opportunity goals to start the fourth quarter, the Pride held off the Falcons' offense for two minutes. Messiah refused to surrender with Gillisse finding the attacking Lilienthal, who rocketed a shot into the back of the twine which cut the deficit to 16-14 with 11:07 remaining. After Widener responded with a tally from Nick Dilorio, the Falcons kept themselves in the game, by scoring two of the final three goals. Unfortunately, the late push was not enough for Messiah and Widener claimed the 18-16 victory.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah returns home for a conference battle against the Albright Lions on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m.