YORK, PA – The York College men's lacrosse squad suffered a highly disappointing 8-7 overtime loss to Messiah College on Saturday afternoon in York.

The Spartans fall to 2-2 with the loss as they have dropped their last two at home. Messiah improves to 2-2 with the stunning victory.

The Spartans were fortunate to get to overtime as they needed a goal from Matt Whitcher (Huntington Square, N.Y./Huntington) with eight seconds left in regulation to force the extra session.

In overtime, the Spartans had an opportunity to win it but Whitcher's shot caromed off the post with 53 seconds left. The Spartans would get the ground ball but York would turn it over with 22 seconds left. The Falcons called timeout with 10 seconds showing on the clock and it looked like Messiah would be content to play for a second overtime. With about four seconds left, Justin Bradley made a move from above the restraining line. He charged towards the Spartan cage and unleashed a shot very close to the buzzer. When the ball went into the cage, attention turned towards the official who signaled the goal was in time and the Falcons stormed the field as they had pulled off the shocking upset.

York got on the board first with 7:20 left in the opening quarter as Andrew Gamble (Easton, Pa./Easton) netted his fifth goal of the year. The Falcons answered back with goals from Bradley and Blake Knobloch to take the 2-1 lead at the end of one period of play.

York opened the second quarter with three straight goals, as it appeared the Spartans had found their legs and were ready to roll. Tyler Hutson (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill), Gamble, and Dillon Hannah (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville) tallied the Spartan goals as York pushed out to a 4-2 lead with 11:53 remaining in the half.

The Falcons trimmed the Spartan lead to one with goals from Cody Rogers and Will Franken as Messiah slowed the York momentum. Hutson closed out the first half scoring with a goal with 3:51 remaining in the stanza to give York a 5-4 halftime advantage.

Messiah outscored the Spartans 2-1 in the third quarter including a Tyler Goglio goal at the buzzer in what would be a foreshadowing of the Falcon goal in overtime.

Franken would give the Falcons a 7-6 fourth quarter lead when he scored with 5:15 remaining in regulation. Whitcher's game-tying goal in the fourth quarter came off a pass from Hutson after Spartan head coach Brandon Childs called timeout with 22 seconds left to draw up the successful play.

Bradley led the Falcons with three goals on just three shots in the win. Franken added a pair of goals for two points while Goglio added a goal and an assist. Goglio also had three ground balls for the Falcons. Dean Patton led the Falcons with four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Midfielder Brady Marburger was 8-for-15 at the X for the Falcons.

Hutson led the Spartans with five points on two goals and three assists in the setback. Gamble added a pair of goals for the Spartans. Freshman Joey Fiorino (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh) collected a game-high five ground balls while Sam Lundin (Newark, Del./Delaware Military Academy) recorded a career-high three caused turnovers and four ground balls. Jake Katchmark (Centreville, Va./Westfield) went 8-for-15 at the X for the Green and White.

The Spartans outshot the Spartans 31-20 but Messiah had the better of the shots in fourth quarter and overtime by a count of 12-6. The Spartans also won the battle of the ground balls, 32-26. Both teams won eight of the 16 face offs while turnovers were about equal as York had 14 miscues while Messiah had 12.

Sam Stengel earned the win in net as he made ten saves in his 64 minutes of work as he improves to 2-2. Caleb Abney (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) allowed nine goals and made nine saves in his 57:15 of work. Junior man-down goalie James Anderson (Pasadena, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) made a pair of saves in his 6:45 of work.

The task doesn't get any easier for York as they travel to red-hot Gettysburg to face the nationally ranked Bullets on Wednesday afternoon. Gettysburg is 3-0 including a 12-6 win over number seven Salisbury last weekend. The Bullets host #3 Lynchburg on Sunday in Gettysburg. First face off Wednesday at Gettysburg is scheduled for 3:30 pm.

Tyler Hutson photo courtesy of Joe Rodgers