GRANTHAM, Pa. - Catholic men's lacrosse got off to a hot start, taking a 5-1 lead in the first period before ultimately falling to Messiah on a snowy Saturday in Pennsylvania. 

The Cardinals scored the first three goals in the first four minutes of the contest before Messiah got on the board with 9:32 remaining in the opening period. Victor Rosado was the first Cardinal on the board in 2025, scoring off a Steven Dezelic feed 1:10 into the game. Freshman Ryan Carickhoff scored his first career goal just over three minutes into his first game as Mike Mulligan picked up the assist. Now 2-0, Mulligan scored a goal of his own 59 seconds later to put Catholic ahead by three. 

After Owen Hammel put Messiah on the board, Logan Farrington responded to put Catholic back ahead by three with 7:39 to play in the first before Dezelic got on the board with 6:36 left on the quarter clock. Chad Teresky scored for the Falcons with 4:33 left, trimming the gap to 5-2. 

Messiah would score three more to open the second quarter, tying the contest at 5-5 with 5:29 left in the half before Finn Smith scored his first career goal to push Catholic back ahead. However, Hammel responded with 4:01 left in the half to tie the contest once more. The Falcons would take the lead with 2:38 to play in the second, holding that lead into the break. 

A back-and-forth third quarter saw the teams trade goals with the Falcons holding onto the one-goal advantage. After Liam Hill tied the contest at 9-9 with 8:12 left in the third, Zach Gibson broke the tie, giving the Cardinals a 10-9 lead with 7:46 left in the quarter. Messiah would score the next two before Brady McMahon put one home off Dezelic's second assist with 2:35 remaining in the quarter to tie the game at 11-11. Bobby Griffith would give Messiah the lead with 1:24 left as they took a 12-11 lead into the final period. 

The Falcons scored the first two goals of the fourth to take a three-goal advantage. McMahon put home a second goal with 11:11 left, but the Cardinals couldn't pull within less than two goals. Messiah would hold on for a 17-14 victory. 

QUICK HITTERS

• Carickhoff, a freshman out of Hilltown, Pa. scored a hat trick in his first career collegiate contest. He took a game-high seven shots and added three ground balls. 
• Dezelic topped the Cardinals in points, adding two goals and two assists. He picked up two ground balls in the contest. 
• McMahon made it three Cardinals with multi-goal games, adding two goals and an assist for Catholic. 
• Ryan Macksoud won 21 face-offs for Catholic and picked up seven ground balls. He has now won 400 career face-offs with the Cardinals. Matt Shandley led the team with nine ground balls, adding a goal as well. 
• Catholic forced 10 turnovers in the contest, led by three from Mike Tayloe. Liam O'Neil added a pair of caused turnovers as well. 
• In his first contest with Catholic, transfer Liam Daly made 10 saves in the losing effort. 
• With a goal and an assist in the contest, Rosado sits just one point shy of 150 for his career (82 goals, 67 assists).