Midway through the second period of their home playoff game against Messiah College, Eastern University Men's Lacrosse trailed 6-0. Senior midfielder Michael Hofmeister sparked an heroic rally with a coast-to-coast goal, but the Eagles could not hold a lead late and fell 10-9 in overtime. Hofmeister scored four times and added an assist in his final game in the maroon and white.

Messiah held possession for much of the early going, and they scored three times in the opening five minutes. JJ Miller was again a major factor in the game for the guests with all five face-off wins in a 4-0 first period. In contrast to the game two days ago, the Falcons converted that possession into a flurry of shots early. The visitors held a 14-1 advantage in shots in the first quarter and a 30-5 edge at half. 

"We didn't score the first goal," Eastern head coach Brandon Childs related, "and they gained confidence and we just couldn't get the ball." 

The Eagles were finally able to secure the ball and create a transition attempt with four and a half minutes to play in the half. Hofmeister grabbed an outlet in his own defensive end and ran straight toward goal. Eastern's senior captain raced through traffic in the midfield and in the defensive end and dropped a low shot into the net to start the comeback.

After Hofmeister's goal, the game opened up. Messiah won the face-off, but Matt Mandia was able to jar a ball free and start another transition attempt. Hofmeister took a tumble after being tripped at the edge of the box, but he retained possession and fed David Darling off the crease on the left side. Darling buried the shot, Eastern's fourth of the half, to close the gap to 6-2 with 1:15 on the clock.

The Eagles then won a face-off man-up. Hofmeister dodged his way into the middle and scored to cut the deficit to 6-3 with just over half a minute to play. The Eastern enthusiasm took a hit just seconds later as Miller again won possession and was able to find Brent Stewart in the midfield. Stewart, who would eventually score the game-winner, unleashed a vicious right-handed shot to put Messiah up 7-3 at the intermission.

From the beginning of the third, however, the Eastern team attacked the game with a more aggressive posture. Will Johnson scored four minutes into the half, but Messiah answered with a Heath Kopecky goal just minutes later. 

Cal Napolitano rolled the crease and cut the deficit to 8-5 with 9:05 to play. The junior attack then made another huge play with a ground ball pick up in traffic after a Hofmeister shot. Hofmeister beat a pair of Messiah defenders to the ball and was able to flip the ball to Matt Soldano to keep possession. Soldano drove and flipped to Hofmeister to pull the Eagles to within two with 5:43 to play in the third. Eastern had a 9-7 advantage in third period shots.

Zach Ivy started the fourth with a solo effort off the left side. The Eastern top-scorer dodged a pair of defenders and made an extended sequence of fakes to move the Messiah goalie's stick before dropping home his 26th of the year. Hofmeister scored his fourth to tie the game a minute and a half later.

"Hof was unbelievable today," Childs said, "I've been saying all year, and all the young guys on the team know it, that Hof is the man. Today it was scoring, but in other games it was other things. He and Matt [Mandia] do so much that doesn't show up in the stats, but they have meant so much on this team."

The Eagles took the lead with just under three minutes to play on another unsettled situation. Joey Wilmot busted through a triple team at midfield and went straight to goal. the sophomore midfielder bounced a shot from six yards out to put the Eagles up 9-8.

Messiah again gained possession again on Miller's face-off. The visitors were patient and worked the ball against the Eastern defense before goalie Aaron Benz picked off a pass. The Eagles, however failed in the clear, and Messiah took advantage of the transition situation to tie the game with 1:09 to play. 

Eastern never had the ball in extra time. Stewart scored on the second shot of overtime with 1:14 on the clock. Messiah will play at second seeded FDU-Florham on Wednesday. 

Hofmeister and four classmates will graduate, but the young Eastern squad shows great promise for the future. The 2010 squad, with Coach Childs' first recruiting class playing a prominent role, won a eleven games to set a new program standard. 

Box Score