GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah men's lacrosse team fell, 17-8, against the Eastern Eagles on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons fell behind 8-1 with less than a minute left in the second quarter, but three-straight goals pulled the Falcons within four early in the third. Christian Santangini and Sam Stone netted scores right before the break and Nate Jaloszynski scored in the first 90 seconds of the second half to make it an 8-4 game.

After that tally, the Eagles went on a sizable 8-2 run to go up by double-digits at 16-6. Messiah netted two of the final three scores, with goals by Lucas Honebrink and Seth Libby, but the Eagles held on for the 17-8 victory.

Messiah will be back in action on Wednesday when they host the Lycoming Warriors at 4:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.

Eagles Grab Momentum
Eastern scored two goals to grab a 2-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest and seize the momentum of the game. They picked up another goal later in the first quarter to go up 3-0 before Sam Stone cut into the lead with an unassisted strike after working his way from behind the goal to make it 3-1.

The Eagles would then score the next five goals to put Messiah in an 8-1 hole with about four minutes to play in the half.

Late First Half Rally
After trailing 8-1, Messiah picked up two late goals from Christian Santangini and Sam Stone to go into the half holding the momentum down 8-3. Nate Jaloszynski would score early on in the second half on a man-up opportunity to make the score 8-4.

Eastern Pulls Away
Unfortunately for the Falcons, that was as close as they would get, as the Eagles tallied six of the next seven goals to go ahead by a score of 14-5. Messiah would match the Eagles over the final quarter 3-3 in scoring but would fall in the game 17-8 to drop to 1-4 on the season.

Inside The Box Score
Eastern edged out Messiah in shots (44-27), groundballs (50-25), and faceoffs (19-9). Sam Stone continues to pace the Falcons in goals this season, with his 14 leading the team, as he has scored multiple goals in four of five games this season.

What's Up Next
Messiah will look to get back on track when they host the Lycoming College Warriors on Wednesday afternoon in Grantham at 4:00 p.m.