GRANTHAM, Pa. — Halftime adjustments paid big dividends as Eastern University Men's Lacrosse outscored the host Messiah Falcons 111-4 after halftime fo claim an important MAC Commonwealth win, 18-13. Frankie Fanelli had his first career eight point day with two goals and six assists.  Christopher Fanelli and Nick Litzenberger also added six-point days. Litzenberger had four goals and two assists and the elder Fanelli had five goals and one helper.

The Eagles (5-7, 1-1) trailed 8-5 in the second quarter and 9-7 at halftime. Out of the break, they fixed their clears and took advantage of a massive edge at the faceoff dot to pull away. Benjamin Souder won 16-of-17 second-half face-offs to give the Eagles a huge edge in possession.

In the second quarter, the Eagles had cut Messiah's three-goal edge to a single tally  with back-to-back goals from Christopher Fanelli and Litzenberger, but Messiah scored late to go up 9-7. The Falcons (4-8, 1-1) won a final faceoff in the half and hit the post with only seconds to play.

After struggling massively on the clear in the second quarter, the Eagles found calm and were able to take advantage of possessions in the third. Five minutes in, Ryan Williamson put away Frankie Fanelli feed to close the gap to one and start a four-goal Eastern run. Christopher Fanelli scored the next three. The first came on a feed from Litzenberger. He gave the Eagles the lead on a blistering step-down shot in transition.

That goal, the tenth of the game, seemed to lift the energy of the entire team. The play was set up after Brennan Kaut was unable to get subbed off and was stuck at the defensive end. Rather than integrate into a defensive scheme, Kaut locked off an opposing midfielder in front oft of the Messiah bench. The Falcons circled the ball behind the cage and had a player carrying the ball upfield . The ballcarrier walked right into a big hit and the ball came free. Zach Puckett scooped the loose ball, ran the clear, and found Fanelli in space for the 10-9 lead.

The Eastern lead went to 11-9 on a Fanelli-Fanelli connection only a few minutes later. Frankie provided the pass and Christopher finished.

Down 11-9, the Falcons called a timeout. They found a goal in transition and tied the game at 11-11 after their only faceoff win of the second half.

Souder won another draw and Brett Gougler scored from the right alley for a 12-11 edge with 2:41 left in the third. Eighty seconds later Frankie Fanelli dodged from behind the cage and bounced home a goal, and with less than a minute to play Litzenberger freed his hands for an underhand pass to Christopher Fanelli for a 14-11 lead. With a make-it-take-it mindset, the Eagles had another chance at the end of the period, but Frankie Fanelli was ruled to have hit the goal mouth on his diving effort with only seconds to play.

Eastern had a 17-5 edge in third-quarter shots, and Zachary Klym had the only save of the frame. The Eagles scored on all seven of their shots on goal in the third.

With Souder winning all seven fourth-quarter draws, the Eagles had only to take care of the ball and take advantage of scoring chances to see the game out.

With six fourth-quarter turnovers and several un-backed shots, Eagles needed Klym more than they probably would have liked. The senior goalie was there with five of his 12 saves in the final frame.

Messiah scored the first goal of the fourth, but Brett Williamson picked off a pass in the ride and finished to an open goal to restore a three goal edge. Moments later, Andrew Collins converted a Brennan Kaut pass for and extra-man goal on the only power play of the evening for either team. Gougler and Litzenberger scored the final two goals.

The Eagles were 4-for-9 on clears in the second quarter and had 13 first-half turnovers. While there were still turnovers in the second half, they came more in settled situations which did not result in transition chances the way the miscues in the first half did.

Souder finished with 29 faceoff wins and 10 ground balls. It is Eastern's first game without a penalty since March of 2022.

The Eagles will host York in a MAC Commonwealth test on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm.