GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Albright Lions men's lacrosse team overcame a four-goal first half deficit and defeated Messiah 12-7 on the road in its MAC Commonwealth opener on Wednesday night.
 
With the win, the Lions improve to 1-2 overall and will start 1-0 in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Falcons fall to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
 
The Falcons took the early 1-0 lead on their first possession of the game, and controlled play early by winning the first two faceoffs. Messiah added to its lead at the 7:51-mark of the first quarter before scoring again at the 4:26-mark to make it 3-0. The Falcons took advantage of a Lions turnover late in the first quarter to score and go up 4-0 at the 31-second mark. Messiah outshot the Lions 13-1 in the first quarter and won all five faceoffs. Albright still was unable to generate any offense early in the second quarter, but began forcing the Falcons into turnovers to keep the game within reach at 4-0. The Lions finally got on the board on a man-up goal from sophomore Harrison Bodwell at the 5:34-mark of the second quarter. The Falcons responded by taking advantage of another Lions failed clear and responded to go up 5-1 at the 3:01-mark. Junior Cole Genneken turned the tide of the game with an unassisted goal at the 50-second mark of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 5-2 at halftime.
 
Albright set the tone early in the third quarter as they forced the Falcons into three turnovers on its first three possessions. Junior Jacob Cunningham netted his first goal of the game at the 11:15-mark to cut the deficit down to 5-3. Genneken then registered back-to-back goals in 41 seconds to tie the game at five with 8:45 left in the third quarter. Albright took its first lead of the game at the 6:45-mark after Genneken stole the ball from a Falcon defender on a clear attempt, and ripped his third-straight goal on the right side of the net. The Falcons responded by tying the game at six at the two-minute mark on a man-up opportunity before junior Alex McKendry gave the Lions the lead back for good off a rebound from an initial shot. Genneken continued his stellar night into the fourth quarter as he scored back-to-back goals to put Albright up 9-6 at the 11:22-mark. Messiah looked to rally as they scored just 56 seconds later to cut the Lions lead down to 9-7, and gained possession back after a Lions turnover. Albright was able to stave off a long Falcon possession and cashed in at the 7:36-mark when Cunningham tallied his second goal of the game to go up 10-7. The Lions continued to lock down the Falcon offense as first-year Jon Alvarez recorded his first collegiate goal with two minutes left in regulation to make it an 11-7 game. Senior Connor Graser put the finishing touches on the night by scoring a goal with 11 seconds left in regulation to seal the win at 12-7.
 
The Falcons held a sizable 39-21 shot advantage for the game and a 19-16 edge in shots on goal. Messiah held a 48-38 ground ball advantage for the contest and won 19 of the 23 faceoffs. Sophomore goalkeeper Liam Ferry had a stellar night in net as he tallied 12 saves in the full 60 minutes to earn the win. Falcon goalkeeper Jacob Fahnestock suffered the loss after making four saves in the full 60 minutes. Genneken recorded a game-high six goals for the Lions with five of them coming in the second half. Cunningham tallied four points behind two goals and two assists while McKendry, Bodwell, Graser, and Alvarez each netted one goal. Graser added team-highs of six ground balls and a single-game program record of eight caused turnovers as well. Sam Stone led the Falcons with four goals.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, March 20^th as they will host Eastern at 1 p.m