GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah men's lacrosse team earned its first victory of the 2022 campaign Wednesday night, topping visiting King's College (Pa.), 11-6. Sam Stone, RJ Mellor, and Nathan Branson all recorded hat tricks in the victory as Owen Joyce dished out a game-high three assists.
 
Messiah head coach Dan Carson earned his first-career win with the home decision as Messiah improved its 2022 overall record to 1-2.
 
The Monarchs got off to a fast start, notching a goal in the opening minute to take a prompt 1-0 lead. Ben Spencer found shooting space on the right side of the goal, ripping a shot past Josh Grove for the quick one-goal advantage. The Falcons did not wait long to equalize, leveling the score at 1-1 after Stone found the back of the net at the 10:25 mark.
 
Messiah jumped out to a 3-1 advantage behind a tally from RJ Mellor and Stone's second goal of the game. The Falcons rattled off three unanswered as Owen Joyce picked up two assists on each of Stone's goals. Messiah led at the end of one quarter of play, 3-1, outshooting the Monarchs 7-6.
 
Nathan Branson got things going for the Falcons in the second quarter, notching a goal at the 13:33 mark to put Messiah ahead by three goals (4-1). Branson's tally was his fifth of the season, a team-leading mark. Mellor had a chance to double his goal total at the 8:05 mark but was matched with a quality save from Monarch goalkeeper Matt Wall.
 
The Falcons added one more goal before the half as Seth Libby notched an unassisted tally with just 1:10 remaining to build the Messiah lead to 5-2. The remaining minute of the second quarter was scoreless as the Falcons entered the break with a comfortable three-goal edge.
 
In the first half, the Falcons outshot the Monarchs, 17-12, as Grove recorded six saves in net for Messiah.
 
The Falcons began the second half in strong fashion, using Mellor's second goal of the game to grow the advantage to 6-2. Mellor's tally came just 1:17 into the third quarter as Stone notched his third goal of the game not long after, completing his hat trick at the 12:58 mark to take a commanding five-goal lead (7-2).
 
King's Ben Spencer had himself a strong offensive performance as well. Spencer completed his hat trick at the 12:11 mark of the third quarter, accounting for all three of the Monarch's goals up to that point. After Spencer's third goal, Messiah still held a firm 7-3 edge.
 
King's added another tally with 7:36 left in the quarter to pull within a three-goal deficit (7-4). With the Monarchs building momentum, Grove made a key save at the 5:29 mark to keep Gabe Vansuch's out of the net. The Falcons fed off the energy from the big defensive play as Mellor completed his hat trick with 4:46 left in the third period of play, giving Messiah an 8-4 lead. The rest of the third quarter of play proved to be scoreless as the Falcons led the Monarchs by four goals heading into the final period of play.
 
The Falcons lead grew to five goals with only 10:09 left in the contest when Aaron Shaw converted a turnaround effort to put his name on the scoresheet. Shaw's goal was assisted by Joyce, the sophomore midfielder's game-leading third assist.
 
King's scored consecutive goals to pull within a three-goal deficit (9-6) with only five minutes left on the clock. The Monarch's held the momentum before Joyce contributed a key goal to separate the Falcons from the visitors with only 3:11 remaining. The Falcons cruised to the victory, 11-6, earning their first victory of the season.
 
What's Next
The Falcons return to action this Saturday, Mar. 5, when they travel to Chatham University for a 2:00 p.m. contest.