GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah men's lacrosse team fell 14-4 against the Elizabethtown Blue Jays on Wednesday night in a non-conference match on the Lacrosse Turf. Garrett Amsbaugh scored the first goal of the game to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead, but the Blue Jays responded with the next eight goals and 11 of the next 12 en route to the 10-goal victory.
 
Despite the lopsided loss, Messiah actually outshot the Blue Jays 39-34 in the game, but Elizabethtown's goalie, Tom Mahoney was up to the challenge, making an impressive 14 saves on the night.
 
Garrett Amsbaugh scored two goals for the Falcons while Cory Hurst and Liam Lilienthal each netted one tally in the game.
 
Messiah falls to 0-4 on the season and will be back in action on Saturday when they host the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats at 5:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.
 
Early Lead
The Falcons grabbed the lead to start the game off a Garrett Amsbaugh unassisted strike to give Messiah early momentum.

Blue Jays Answer
The Blue Jays then answered with a huge 8-0 run over the remainder of the half to take an 8-1 lead into the halftime break. Elizabethtown spread the wealth during the run, with six different goal scorers, while Owen Yake and Cameron Goodling both scored a pair for Elizabethtown.

Messiah took advantage of a man-up opportunity in the third quarter to cut the lead to 8-2 on a beautiful play. Reed Bond cut down the Blue Jays offensive player and caused the turnover before Liam Lilienthal picked up the ground ball and took it down the field for a goal.

Pulling Away
The Blue Jays then answered with three goals to take it into the fourth quarter up 11-2. Despite Cory Hurst and Amsbaugh finding the net in the fourth quarter, it was not enough as Messiah fell 14-4.

Inside The Box Score
As mentioned, Messiah outshot Elizabethtown 39-34 and grabbed eight more groundballs then the Blue Jays, but turnovers and missed opportunities proved to be costly for the Falcons.

Credit must be given to Blue Jays goalie Tom Mahoney, who made 14 saves in the game and turned away several good Falcon looks.

What's Up Next
After falling to 0-4 to begin the season, Messiah will be back in action Saturday evening when they take on the visiting Franklin and Marshall Diplomats at 5:00 p.m.

When these two teams met last season, Franklin and Marshall came away with a 21-16 victory over Messiah.