GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Hood College men's lacrosse team was defeated 14-10 by Messiah University on Wednesday in Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth action.
Inside the Numbers
- Jackson Hand (Orangeville, ON/Orangeville District Secondary) led the Blazer attack with four goals.
- Robbie Wiley (York, PA/Central York) and Colby Gallagher (Coatesville, PA/Bishop Shanahan) both scored two goals each. Wiley also added an assist.
- Kyle Scott (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) and Aidan Gilsdorf (Frederick, MD/Gov Thomas Johnson) both netted one goal each.
- Six players caused one turnover each for the defense.
- Garrett Hitchens (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks West) recorded a team-high eight ground balls while going 13-25 in faceoffs.
- Alex Dudziak (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) saved six shots and picked up two ground balls in goal for Hood.
How It Happened
- Messiah's Owen Joyce netted three consecutive goals and Aaron Shaw tallied two straight to give the Falcons the early 5-0 lead over Hood with 3:31 left on the clock.
- Gallagher ended the five-goal run with his first of the day off a Gilsdorf assist to make the score 5-1 going into the second quarter.
- Nick Branson, Rick Pokrivka and RJ Mellor all netted once to extend the Messiah lead 8-1 over the Blazers with 8:56 remaining. Joyce tallied two assists during the Messiah three-goal run.
- Right off the faceoff, Hand received a pass from Hitchens to score Hood's second goal of the game to cut the lead to 8-2 with 8:50 left in the first half.
- After the Hand goal, Hood went on a 5-0 run as Hand capped off his hat trick with two goals during the run. Wiley also added two goals while Scott found the back of the net once. Joe Alston (Macungie, PA/Emmaus), Rio Muldoon (Prince Frederick, MD/DeMatha Catholic) and Gilsdorf added assists for the Blazers during the run to help bring the score 8-7 in favor of Messiah with 2:03 before halftime.
- Branson added his second of the day to round out the first-half scoring with 1:02 on the clock to push the lead back to two 9-7.
- Coming out of the halftime break, Hood and Messiah exchanged goals. Hand added his fourth of the day off of a Muldoon assist 27 seconds into the third quarter then Seth Libby found the back of the net to push the lead back to two 10-8 with 13:30 remaining in the third.
- The next goal was not scored until 6:45 was left in the third when Libby netted his second of the day off a Mellor pass to make the score 11-8. Sam Stone scored the final goal of the quarter to extend the lead to four 12-8 on a man-up opportunity off a Joyce assist.
- Gallagher opened the fourth quarter with his second goal of the game off a Wiley pass to lessen the lead 12-9, but Messiah's Joyce answered back to take the four-goal lead once again with 12:02 remaining in the game.
- Gilsdorf found the back of the net off an Owen McDermott (Wernersville, PA/Conrad Weiser) assist about eight minutes after the Joyce goal to score the final goal for the Blazers to make the score 13-10.
- Messiah rounded out the game's scoring as Joyce netted his fourth of the day to secure the 14-10 victory over the Blazers.
For the Opponent
- Owen Joyce led the Falcons with four goals and four assists for eight points.
- Four players netted twice while two players scored once.
- Corum McCuller led the defense with four caused turnovers and two ground balls.
- Rick Pokrivka led the team with 11 ground balls and went 10-17 in the faceoffs.
- Aidan Hickey recorded six saves against the Blazers while picking up four ground balls.
Analysis
- Messiah outshot Hood 37-27.
- Hood successfully cleared the ball 16-out-of-19 times.
- The Falcons won 41 ground balls to Hood's 30.
Up Next
The Blazers fall to 6-10 overall and 1-6 in the MAC Commonwealth and will conclude regular season play as they host Albright College at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 30 for senior day.
