ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – The Messiah men's lacrosse team fell short at Eastern University, 18-14, on Saturday afternoon. Despite the loss, the Falcons had six different players record goals, including a season-high six goals from
Owen Joyce. Joyce's goal total was a game-high effort as
Aidan Hickey recorded 13 saves in the cage.
The Falcons held a 5-4 advantage at the conclusion of the opening period behind
Aaron Shaw,
Seth Libby (2), Joyce,
Sam Stone, and
Christian Santangini. Eastern used a seven-goal second quarter to take an 11-10 lead into halftime, outscoring the Falcons 7-4 in the second half to secure the victory.
The loss drops Messiah's overall record to 8-9 (4-4 MAC Commonwealth) on the season ahead of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. The Falcons are the No. 5 seed in the upcoming tournament, playing in the Play-In game on Tuesday afternoon at a time to be determined.
First Half
Messiah scored the first two goals of the game courtesy of
Aaron Shaw and
Owen Joyce to take an early 2-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest. Eastern scored three goals to take a lead before
Owen Joyce tied the game at 3-3 with over five minutes remaining in the first quarter. Messiah would take a 5-4 lead into the second quarter with two more goals off the stick of
Sam Stone and
Seth Libby. The teams would trade goals during the second quarter with no team taking more than a two goal lead. Mellor, Joyce (2), Shaw and Santangini scored the five goals for the Falcons in the quarter, giving Messiah a one goal deficit going into halftime.
Second Half
The teams continued to battle, with Messiah and Eastern both scoring four goals in the third quarter. Eastern took as much as a two goal lead but Messiah would hang around with goals from Libby, Joyce (2) and Stone. Messiah would trail by one going into the final quarter 15-14. Eastern scored three goals in the fourth quarter and held Messiah scoreless to take the win 18-14.
Stats
Owen Joyce continued his recent dominance, leading the Falcons in goals with six while adding two assists. Shaw, Libby and Stone each had two goals while Mellor and Santangini each had one.
Frank Honey led the team in ground balls with five while McCuller, Pokrivka and N. Jaloszynski had four in the game.
Next
The loss drops Messiah's overall record to 8-9 (4-4 MAC Commonwealth) on the season ahead of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. The Falcons are the No. 5 seed in the upcoming tournament, playing in the Play-In game on Tuesday afternoon at a time to be determined.
