WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Messiah University men's lacrosse team opened the 2024 season with a thrilling overtime win at Catholic University on Saturday evening. The Falcons dominated the first quarter taking a 4-1 lead with four unanswered goals after a Cardinal goal. The Falcons scored the opening goal of the second quarter before the Cardinals scored three straight goals to reduce the Falcons lead to 5-4 at the half. In the third quarter, the Cardinals outscored the Falcons 3-1 to take a 7-6 lead entering the fourth. The two teams traded goals, before the Falcons scored two unanswered goals, from Owen Hammel and Mike McKnelly to tie the game at 10 and force overtime. Two minutes into overtime, Mike McKnelly scored the game-winner to give the Falcons an opening day, 11-10 win over Catholic.
 
Up next, the Falcons host their home opener against the Saints of Marymount University on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 1:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.

First Half
The Cardinals opened the scoring with a goal in the first minute in a half. The Falcons responded quickly with a goal Bobby Berg from Chad Teresky to tie the game with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first quarter. After a few minutes of back-and-forth play, the Falcons scored three straight goals to close out the quarter with Bobby Berg, Mike McKnelly, and Grant Pefall to give the Falcons a 4-1 lead after the first quarter.
 
The Falcons scored the first goal of the second quarter with Chad Teresky scoring from Bobby Berg to increase the Falcons lead to four with 10:48 in the half. The Cardinals closed the half with three straight goals to put the score at 5-4 with the Falcons out in front.
 
Second Half
The Cardinals opened the second half tying the game with a man-up goal with 11:18 remaining in the third. The Falcons then retook the lead with a Bobby Berg goal with 8:03 remaining in the third. The Cardinals then scored two straight goals to take a one goal lead entering the fourth quarter.
 
The Cardinals opened the fourth quarter with a man-up goal to push their lead to two with 12:37 remaining. The Falcons responded just nine seconds later with a Mike McKnelly goal from Tristian Lynch to put the Falcons within one. The Cardinals struck back quickly with another goal to extend their lead back to two. The back-and-forth play continued with another Bobby Berg goal to put the Falcons back within one, but the Cardinals answered again pushing their lead to two. In the final eight minutes, the Falcons scored two unanswered goals with Mike McKnelly from Grant Pefall to tie the game and send the game into overtime.
 
In overtime, Mike McKnelly scored the game winner with 3:17 remaining in overtime to give the Falcons an opening game win.
 
Stats
Bobby Berg led the Falcons with five points on four goals and an assist. Mike McKnelly scored four goals, including the game-tying and game winning goal. Owen Hammel, Chad Teresky, and Grant Pefall each tallied a goal and an assist. Ben Antel went 7-for-21 with five ground balls. David Gross caused two turnovers with one ground ball. Walter Penchansky scooped up four ground balls and caused one turnover. Jourdain Algarin earned the win in the cage for the Falcons and made 16 saves.
 
Next
The Falcons host their home opener against the Saints of Marymount University on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 1:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.