CHESTER, PA. –  The Messiah men's lacrosse team could not overcome a dominant first quarter by the Widener Pride as Messiah fell 12-18 in the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Game this evening. Bobby Berg had a team high four goals and tacked on an assist as well.
 
The loss concludes the Falcons season as they finish with a record of 11-7. Their 11 wins is their most since the 2016 season.
 
Action
Jesse Lynch kicked off the scoring by scoring the first goal of the game to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead less than 15 seconds into the game. That would be the last lead the Falcons would have as the Pride went on a tear throughout the rest of the first period. A nine-straight goal scoring run from Widener opened up the game in favor of the Pride in a big way. Bobby Berg converted a goal at the end of the first period as time expired but the damage had been done. It was 2-9 at the end of one.
 
The Falcons played strong second and third periods, outscoring the Pride 4-3 in each quarter. After two goals from Widener in the second, Teresky (2), Ferrell, and Berg all would find the back of the cage in the second. The deficit was cut to six at the break as the Falcons trailed 12-6.
 
Drake got in on the scoring in the third, scoring twice before Berg and Ferrell added the third and fourth goals of the quarter. After the Ben Ferrell goal in the third, the Falcons were only trailing by four with under five to go. Widener would tack on another to increase the lead back to five heading into the final period of action.
 
Widener closed the deal and outscored the Falcons 3-2 in the fourth to take the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Game victory by a score of 18-12.  
 
Stats
Bobby Berg led the team with four goals and tacked on an assist in the game. Chad Teresky was next in line with three goals while Ben Ferrell and Zach Drake each added two. Jesse Lynch found the back of the cage once on the night.
 
The teams were relatively even with shots, with Widener holding the five-shot edge (45-40). Messiah had 41 ground balls to Widener's 35 while the Falcons turned the ball over 29 times to the Pride's 20.
 
In Conclusion
The season ends in the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Game as the Falcons finished with an 11-7 overall record, earning their most wins since 2016. Widener will play the No. 1 seeded York College Spartans on May 3, at 7:00 PM in York, Pa.