ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Down 9-8 heading into the fourth quarter, the Elizabethtown College men's lacrosse team didn't disappoint in their home opener at Wolf Field on Saturday against Messiah. The Blue Jays overcame the one-goal deficit and outscored the Falcons 4-2 in the final period to edge Messiah 12-11. Mike Scrafano led E-town with a team-high five goals.

Both teams outscored the other in two quarters of Saturday's non-conference game. Messiah (2-2) was up 2-0 in the first 3:07 until Scrafano's first of the game, a man up, made it 2-1. Elizabethtown (2-2) got possession on the Falcons' first failed clear attempt of the game that Scott Nizolak picked up. The Blue Jays, on the other hand, wound up with a successful clear and established the attack on the Messiah end. Nick Cost's shot was saved by Evan Stoker, one of his 12 in the game. Mike DiGenova grabbed the ground ball to keep E-town on the offensive. An early extra man opportunity was afforded to the Jays and they made it pay off as Cody Richter found Scrafano for the goal, his fourth of the season.

Later in the first, Benjamin O'Connor leveled the game at 2-2 with his second of the season. Andrew Watts broke up Stoker's pass out of the back and Wes Mills picked it up around the midfield line, got the ball to his freshman teammate who found the twine, his second of the year and Mills' first career helper.

Less than a minute later, Messiah was back on top thanks to Dylan Gillisse's fifth of the season that made it 3-2 with 4:17 left in the first. That would be how the quarter would end.

Elizabethtown caught fire in the second quarter, registering four consecutive goals. Watts tallied twice, first to open the second-quarter scoring less than two minutes in off a feed from Cost. Cameron Goodling recorded his first of the season as Brandon Sankey found the sophomore for the goal that gave E-town its first lead at 4-3. Three minutes later, Scrafano was on the board again with his second of the day. Watts provided the assist on the goal and then made it 6-3 with 4:18 left before half with his second of the quarter.

The defense contained the Falcons and Tom Mahoney only needed to make two saves during the Jays' four-goal stretch that covered nearly nine minutes of the second. Messiah did get one back late in the quarter after Elizabethtown's failed clear. Gillisse made the turnover count for the Falcons and brought them back within 6-4 by the break.

Messiah took over in the third, as, like the first quarter, they scored twice in the opening two minutes and tied the game at 6-6.

Another mistake at the back by Stoker led to the Blue Jays' seventh of the game. Jeremy Klipple caught the goalie from behind, knocking the ball out, picking it up, and dishing to O'Connor, who scored his second of the day and allowed the Blue Jays to regain the lead at 7-6.

The Falcons responded with consecutive man-up goals by Joseph Franken and with 5:15 left in the third, Messiah was back ahead, 8-7. Liam Lilienthal added a third straight for the visitors, who went up by two with 3:45 remaining. The Jays got a big goal to end the period as Nizolak found Scrafano with only three ticks left.

Scrafano returned the favor a minute and a half into the fourth as he got Nizolak the ball for his third of the season. The goal tied the score at 9-9.

Back on another extra man opportunity, the Blue Jays were nearly back ahead after Watts' shot was on frame. Stoker made the save, but the ball stayed with Elizabethtown. A second after the teams were even, DiGenova passed off to Watts, who scored to complete his hat trick and gave E-town a 10-9 advantage. A little over a minute later, Scrafano had his fourth of the day, the Jays led 11-9, and Messiah took a timeout.

With 6:15 showing, Scrafano scored EC's second man-up goal of the game on another Richter assist. The goal proved to be the difference in the game. Messiah pressure Elizabethtown in the final 3:34 with two goals less than a minute apart.

The Blue Jays were awarded possession with 1:36 left in the game after Sam Stone's shot went wide of the cage. Elizabethtown was able to successfully get the ball up field and take time off the clock. The Falcons managed to force a turnover with less than a minute left as Stoker left the crease area to mark one of the attackers.

On Messiah's ensuing possession, an unforced error at the back gave the ball back to Elizabethtown. The Jays ran out the final 38 seconds and held on for the 12-11 win.

Mahoney had 13 saves in the game to get the win and moved to 2-1. Stoker ended up with 12 saves for Messiah. Scrafano had a team-high six points (5g, 1a) while Watts (3g) and O'Connor (2g) each had multi-goal games for E-town.

Elizabethtown will host Christopher Newport on Friday, March 8, at Wolf Field for another non-conference battle. Game time is set for 2 p.m.