EDWARDSVILLE – Messiah's Sam Stone scored five goals to lead visiting Messiah University to a 9-4 non-conference victory over Wilkes University Saturday afternoon at Schmidt Stadium at the Ralston Athletic Complex.
 
Wilkes dropped to 0-2 overall following the home defeat while Messiah recorded its first win of the season moving its overall mark to 1-1 on the year.
 
Messiah opened up a 3-0 lead after one quarter with goals at the 9:43, 7:33 and 5:16 mark with the final strike on the man-up advantage.
 
Wilkes cut into the lead with its first goal of the game when Alex Myers (Cortland, NY/Cortland) broke through the Messiah defense and buried a shot past the Flacons goalie with 8:20 left in the first half. Messiah's Sam Stone completed his hat trick for the Falcons after notching a goal in the first quarter scoring the game's next two goals to push the lead to 5-1 at the break.
 
Jacob Kudysch (Stratford, CT/Frank Scott Bunnell) scored the Colonels second goal  at the 9:26 mark of the third quarter shaking a defender before depositing a shot to the back of the net. Messiah answered back quickly scoring :18 later as Stone tallied his fourth goal of the contest keeping the visitors ahead 6-2.
 
Nico Lorenzo (Howell, NJ/Howell) notched his first goal of the season off a pass from Luke Palladino (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) at the 6:46 mark of the third frame, but Messiah used a quick faceoff win and subsequent goal :14 later to keep its four-goal advantage after three.
 
Colby Opromolla (Patterson, NY/Carmel) added his first collegiate goal six minutes into the final quarter as Wilkes continued to trail by three, 7-4. Messiah kept pace scoring back-to-back goals, the second coming on Stone's fifth strike of the day, as the Falcons put the game out of reach up 9-4 with three minutes remaining.
 
Ryan Lasher (Warrenton, VA/Liberty) made 20 saves in net for Wilkes who were outshot 40-30 in the game. Jamison Shaw (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City) finished 6-for-11 in the circle for the Colonels.
 
Wilkes will continue its home stretch Wednesday when the Colonels host DeSales University at 7:00 p.m. at the Ralston Athletic Complex.