GRANTHAM, Pa.– Eastern University Men's Lacrosse claimed a third-straight road win with a hard-fought 8-7 triple-overtime win at Messiah College on Saturday night. Tim Lamb scored his fourth goal of the game only 14 seconds into the the game to lift the Eagles to the win on their first shot in overtime.

The game stacked up as a battle between a pair of teams with challenging early-season schedules that needed to pick up wins. The Falcons (2-4) lost in their opener to Gettysburg and had dropped a one-goal game to Midwest power Ohio Wesleyan. The Eagles (5-4)  had losses to Gettysburg, York, and Colorado College.

Out of the gate, it looked as though the game might turn into a high-scoring affair. Lamb scored early, and the Falcons answered with a pair of goals to lead 2-1 only five and a half minutes into the game. Neither team scored for the next fifteen minutes. Lamb finally tied the game five and a half minutes into the second period on a strong move from behind the cage.

The Falcons again had an answer. The hosts got their crowd into the game with three goals in a four-minute span to lead 5-2. With both defenses standing strong and the game moving at a deliberate pace, that three goal edge might have seemed bigger than it was.

"I just told our guys to stick to the game plan," Head Coach Kevin Wallace said when asked what he told his team when they went down three. "We knew we were going to have to fight everything we get. It was a great battle.  I also reminded them to have fun. It was a great environment with fans from both schools here. We just had to have fun."

The Eagles picked up a needed break on a slashing penalty with two minutes left in the half. Eastern failed its first man-up chance, but Bryan Mizell buried a deep shot on a pass from Sean Fechter to close the gap to 5-3. The Eagles had to defend an extra-man chance to close out the half.

The momentum from Mizell's goal and the defensive stand carried into the second half, and the Eagles scored four more goals to grab a 7-5 lead. Jake Pousson scored a pair of goals around a Lamb tally, and then set up Mark Buannic for a magnificent low-to-high effort for the two goal edge with less than six minutes left.

The Falcons picked up a big break on a slashing penalty on a clearing attempt with three minutes left. The hosts scored with 2:40 on the clock and then won the ball back on a blocked shot with 90 seconds to play. Messiah's Blake Knobloch scored his second of the evening with only 20 seconds to play to force overtime. The Eagles won the ensuing faceoff, but Lamb's shot sailed just high.

With the exception of one short possession in the first overtime, the Messiah offense had the ball in front of Jameal Hadeed and the Eastern defense for the entire eight minutes of the first two overtime periods.

"Our defense was awesome in the second overtime period," Wallace said. "They understand that you have to do what you have to do in those situations." The Eagles could not take risks to try to steal the ball and leave the goal exposed, and the Falcons settled for shots from difficult distances or angles. the Falcons took seven shots in the four-minute second overtime.

With the defense spent, the Eagles needed the ball. Zach Bauer, who won 12-of-21 faceoffs on the day, delivered an extra effort on his final win. The freshman had been pushed off the ball and it appeared that a Messiah wing player was ready to pick it up. Somehow, Bauer poked the ball into a little empty space, and Ethan Joseph scooped it cleanly while running forward. The freshman midfielder ran toward goal and found Lamb Cutting hard across the face of the goal from the left. His overhand shot back to the left slipped just under the bar to lift the Eagles to their fifth win of the year.

"Zach was hurting by the end of the night," Wallace said, "but he made a play. And Tim. That's what seniors are supposed to do. A great goal after a good pick up by Ethan."

Hadeed was credited with eight saves. Joseph had a team-high five ground balls.

The Eagles will have a week to recover before hosting the No. 9 Dickinson Red Devils next Saturday.