SELINSGROVE, PA - Alex Finch scored eight goals while brother Ryan scored three times as Messiah College defeated Susquehanna University 13-6 in Middle Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action at Sassafras Field on Thursday night.

Alex Finch scored three times in 34 seconds in the second quarter to break a 1-1 tie, and added three straight tallies spanning the third and fourth quarters as the Falcons (3-3 overall, 3-0 MAC) picked up their third consecutive victory.

Junior Tim Storck (Cockeysville, MD/Dulaney) led the Crusaders (1-4 overall, 1-2 MAC) with two goals and an assist while sophomore Greg Norris (St. Catharines, ON/Dennis Morris) scored two goals and junior Ryan Walters (Easton, PA/Easton) tallied a goal and two assists.

Andrew Collins dished out five assists for the Falcons, who broke a 1-1 tie with six unanswered goals to open the second quarter, and tacked on five straight goals over the third and fourth quarters after the Crusaders had pulled to within 8-5 on Storck's second goal of the night with 6:00 left in the third quarter.

Sophomore Brett Brown (Cape Elizabeth, ME/Cape Elizabeth) notched the Crusaders' first goal of the evening off an assist by junior J.D. Lenoir (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) with 3:22 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 1-1.

After Messiah took a 7-1 lead with 5:26 left in the second quarter on a goal by Nick Ricucci, the Crusaders got goals from Norris and Storck to cut the Falcon lead to 7-3 at halftime. Goals by Walters and Storck sandwiched the fifth tally of the night by Alex Finch to bring Susquehanna within 8-5 midway through the third quarter, but the Crusaders would not score again until Norris closed the scoring with 2:17 left in the fourth quarter.

Messiah finished with a 54-30 edge in shots and converted on 3-of-4 extra-man opportunities in the match. The Falcons also won 17-of-22 faceoffs and held a 52-28 edge in ground balls over the Crusaders, as Ryan Finch won 11-of-14 draws and picked up a game-high 12 ground balls.

Junior Greg Burns (Charlotte, NC/South Mecklenburg) led the Crusaders with five ground balls while Walters and junior Dan Torie (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny) had four ground balls apiece.

In goal, freshman A.J. Schaufler (Bernardsville, NJ/Bernards) made 15 saves for the Crusaders while Ted Oberg (7 saves in 54:28) and Greg Latimer (3 saves in the final 5:32) combined to make 10 stops for the Falcons.

2007-03-30