GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah men's lacrosse team suffered an 8-4 setback in the season opener of the 2021 season on Saturday afternoon against the Delaware Valley Aggies. The Aggies controlled the opening half, building a 7-1 lead after 30 minutes of play, but the Falcons hung tough in the second half outscoring Delaware Valley 2-1 in the third and notching the only goal of the fourth quarter.
 
Sam Stone led the Messiah offense with two goals and an assist while Lucas Honebrink and Aaron Shaw each netted one goal in the loss. Between the pipes, Jacob Fahnestock made 14 saves for the Falcons.
 
Messiah will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to Wilkes University to take on the Colonels at 1:00 p.m.
 
Aggies Control First Half
Delaware Valley picked up their first goal just 1:33 into the game off a PJ Rafferty strike to make it 1-0 before Matt Waibel made it 2-0 on an unassisted goal with 8:59 to play in the first quarter.
 
The Falcons found their first goal of the season with Lucas Honebrink sending a rocket into the back of the net after being set up by a beautiful Sam Stone pass to make it 2-1. The Aggies would pick up five more goals in the first half to take a 7-1 lead into the break.
 
Falcons Fight Back, Come Up Short
Messiah came out playing aggressively in the second half, picking up an early goal after Aaron Shaw worked his way downhill and made a nice move to find the net and cut the lead to 7-2. Delaware Valley matched the goal later in the quarter to make it 8-2 with 5:33 to play in the third quarter. After some great ball movement, Caleb Aytes led Sam Stone to the back of the net at the end of the third period to make it 8-3 heading into the final quarter.
 
The Falcons brought the pressure in the fourth quarter, with Stone picking up another goal on a man up opportunity, as he found the right side of the post. Messiah had a lot of great looks in the period, but just were not able to find the back of the net. Credit must go to Aggie goalie Jim Murphy, who made 13 saves on the afternoon, with several of them coming in the fourth quarter. Messiah would ultimately fall 8-4, to drop to 0-1 on the season.
 
Inside The Box Score
After getting out shot 27-7 in the first half, the Falcons out shot the Aggies 23-13 in the second half and nearly found a few more goals in the game. Messiah got more groundballs than Delaware Valley (50-46) and won more face offs (9-6). Frank Honey won 8 of 13 face offs for an impressive .615 face off percentage.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah will look to find their first win of the season next Saturday, Mar. 13 when they travel to Wilkes University to take on the Colonels at 1:00 p.m.