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Messiah 7, Gwynedd Mercy 6


BOX SCORE


GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- For the second-straight game, Gwynedd Mercy fell in a close one-goal contest, as Messiah was able to escape with a 7-6 win over the Griffins on a rainy and cold Saturday afternoon.

Gwynedd (4-2) got two goals each from senior Nico Belardo (Columbus, N.J./Northern Burlington) and Blase Cesarone (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone), but the Griffins couldn't recover from a late three-goal deficit.

The Falcons (3-3) struck first in the game with a goal from Tyler Goglio, assisted by Drew Pagenkopf. With time running down in the first quarter, Belardo scored for the Griffins with less than one second remaining on an unassisted tally at end of the quarter.

The Griffins capitalized on a man-up opportunity early in the second quarter with a score from junior Tony McCraw (Lawnton, Pa./Central Dauphin East). Next, Messiah's Blake Knobloch scored consecutive goals in a span of two minutes to give the Falcons a 3-2 lead heading into the half.

Goals from Cesarone (11:34) and Belardo (8:33) put GMercyU ahead 4-3 midway in the third. The Falcons responded with three-straight goals from Blake Knobloch, Justin Bradley, and Ryan Van Bochoven to end the third quarter, two of which were on the man-up and lead, 6-4.

Knobloch would score his fourth goal of the game in the fourth and extend the Falcons lead to 7-4 with 4:25 in the contest.

The Griffins battled back, with a goal from Cesarone just 21 seconds later and later after forcing a turnover and clear, sophomore Alfonso Manzo (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern) scored with 28 ticks on the clock to tighten it up at 7-6. McCraw would win the ensuing faceoff and get the ball in the offensive zone, but an errant pass got away to help give Messiah the win.

Gwynedd Mercy held a 32-24 shooting edge as each team collected 18 ground balls, but the Griffins were guilty of 20 turnovers, six of which came in the final quarter.

Defensively, sophomore Marc Bushong (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) led the team  with four groundballs and three caused turnovers. Senior goalie John Black (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) recorded eight saves while his counterpart, Messiah's Sam Stengel had 13.

The Griffins will welcome Delaware Valley on Wednesday in a 4 p.m. start.