GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah men's lacrosse team jumped out to an early 2-1 lead over the Grove City Wolverines on Friday night, but struggled to keep the momentum rolling as the Wolverines earned a 14-6 victory. Sam Stone and RJ Mellor led the offensive effort for the Falcons with a pair of goals each, but it was not enough as three different Wolverines netted hat tricks on the evening.
 
Between the pipes, Josh Grove made 11 saves for a .440 save percentage.
 
With the setback, Messiah moves to 2-3 on the young season and will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Baltimore to take on the Goucher Gophers.
 
How It Happened
After Grove City scored on their first possession of the game, Messiah rattled of back-to-back goals from RJ Mellor and Owen Joyce in a 90-second span to give the Falcons a quick 2-1 lead less than five minutes into the contest.
 
The Wolverines responded with five-straight goals over the final eight minutes of the period to take a 6-2 lead into the second. Grove City scored the only goal of the second quarter and the first two scores after the half, taking a 9-2 after their 8-0 run.
 
Messiah snapped a 38-minute scoreless stretch with RJ Mellor's second goal of the game and just before the third quarter horn, Mellor found Sam Stone for the Falcons' fourth goal of the contest.
 
Grove City took the momentum right back at the start of the fourth quarter with five-straight goals to take a 14-4 lead with 4:29 remaining in the half. In the final minutes of play, Aaron Shaw and Sam Stone found he back of the cage, but the Wolverines earned the 14-6 victory over the Falcons.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Goucher to take on the Gophers at 7:00 p.m. in Baltimore, Md.