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Messiah Rebounds With Big Win Over Manhattanville On Road
Freshman J.J. Miller earned a game ball after going 13 for 13 in the face-off X against Manhattanville Saturday.

Purchase, NY — Looking to get the sour taste of a 20-3 loss to second-ranked Gettysburg College out of its collective mouth, the Messiah College men’s lacrosse team succeeded Saturday, handing MAC Conference foe Manhattanville College an 11-4 defeat.

Messiah (8-5, 5-0) used a second-half flurry to register the win, outscoring the host Valiants by a 7-2 count in the game’s final 30 minutes. Manhattanville (8-5, 1-4) stayed close early despite being out-shot by a 48 to 22 count on the afternoon and by a 30-14 difference in the first half, trailing by just a 4-3 score moments into the third quarter.

An eventual 6-0 Falcons’ run permanently turned the tide, however, as Messiah finally cashed in on dominating ball control.

“I felt like we played really well in the first half, but our shots just weren’t falling,” said Geof Weisenborn, Messiah head coach. “Part of that was (Manhattanville) keeper (Andrew Predun), and the other half was we just missed the cage. Our offense was clicking, we just couldn’t get our shots to go down.”

Predun registered an incredible 13 saves in the first half alone, thwarting a persistent attack from Messiah. The Falcons broke through for an early 3-0 lead behind scores from seniors Nick Ricucci, Ian Lee and junior Jeff Ziegler, but a pair of goals from Manhattanville’s Luke Dorman pulled the hosts to a 3-2 score with 6:10 to play in the first half.

Lee scored an unassisted goal with just 4:32 to play in the first half, but when Manhattanville tacked on a man-up score just four and a half minutes into the third, Messiah led by just a 4-3 score, belying its statistical domination in almost every other category.

Ricucci took a Ziegler pass at the 9:14 mark and slipped a shot past the shoulder of Predun, however, igniting a surge from Weisenborn’s troops that would decide the game. A follow-up goal from Ziegler and two more from Ricucci highlighted the game’s next 30 seconds, putting a severe damper on the Valiants’ hopes for a league upset.

Senior Bryce Geiman followed with an unassisted score at the third quarter’s 4:21 mark and Ziegler scored less than a minute later, giving Messiah a 10-3 lead and complete control of the game. The teams traded solo scores in the fourth, keeping Weisenborn’s team undefeated in conference play with just two league games remaining.

“We won a few face-offs in a row and got some quick goals in the third, and at that point our shots started falling,” Weisenborn said. “Our guys got a little more confident. In the fisrt half, I thought we thought too much. In the second half, I think (Ricucci’s initial) transition goal allowed us to loosen up. We then kept the tempo up with some face-off wins.”

Freshman J.J. Miller was the lead in that department, going 13 for 13 in face-offs while collecting three ground balls. Ricucci and Ziegler led the attack (five and three goals, respectively) while sophomore Morgan Kupfer collected five ground balls.

As a team, Messiah came up with 15 of 19 total face-offs, including nine of 11 in the second half. The team secured 33 ground balls. Manhattanville picked up 25.

Messiah will next square-off against MAC Conference rival Widener University Wednesday evening, as that game will have vast significance in the top league standings.

“We’re not really thinking about (how the Widener game affects the conference standings) right now,” Weisenborn said. “We just want to focus on what we need to do, and that’s try to be playing our best lacrosse going into the post-season.”

Wednesday’s game — barring precipitation — is scheduled to take place on historic Shoemaker Field. Game time is set for 7 p.m.