GRANTHAM, Pa. – Senior Andy Ream (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) had seven goals and two assists and senior Connor Riorden (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) scored two late in the fourth quarter to ice it as the No. 3-seed Lycoming College men's lacrosse team posted a 15-12 win over No. 2 Messiah College in the MAC Commonwealth Championship semifinal on Wednesday night, May 1, at the Messiah Lacrosse Field.
 
Two goals before halftime led to three more to start the third quarter, with Ream adding two goals in the run and adding in an assist on a goal from sophomore Dominick Massaro (Centereach, N.Y./Sachem North) for good measure. The Warriors kept the lead at five until a pair of penalties off a faceoff led to two man-up goals from the Falcons, sending it into the fourth quarter with Lycoming (9-8 overall) leading 13-10.
 
"Our offense has been clicking lately," Ream said. "We had back-to-back 20-goal games and coming in today, we knew we had to run our hearts out. We were running, cutting and moving together. This year, we have the best unit we've had in a while."
 
Messiah (9-8 overall) cut the lead to two early in the fourth, but Riorden's two goals gave Lycoming a four-goal cushion with 3:50 to play. Messiah closed within three late in the period, but Lycoming was able to run out the last 30 seconds with a man-up opportunity, as the Warriors reached a conference final for the first time since 2005 in the process.
 
"Coming off the bench cold for the last five minutes of the game in the conference semifinals, I am so proud of Connor," Ream said. "He came in and did his job and got two badly-needed goals. I love the kid."
 
The Warriors will head to top-seeded Stevenson on Saturday, May 4, for the MAC Commonwealth Championship final in Owings Mills, Md., at 7 p.m., as Stevenson posted a 12-8 win over fourth-seeded Widener in the other semifinal.
 
"Tonight was about our guys executing and showing the growth they've had over the season," Lycoming's sixth-year head coach Chris Scanlon said. "We talk a lot about grit. We talk a lot about perseverance individually and collectively as a team. Our guys came out her and asserted themselves, which is what you want this time of year."

The two teams traded goals in the first quarter, with Ream notching two goals, his second with 4:57 left in the quarter to give Lycoming a 3-2 lead before Messiah took the lead with 41 seconds left in the period with a pair of goals.
 
Messiah extended the lead to 5-3 lead early in the second quarter before the Warriors started a run with an unlikely behind-the-back dagger from 10 yards out by Massaro before junior Shain Quigley (Lincoln University, Pa./Oxford Area) and freshman Max Hanson (Prattville, Ala./Bishop Machebeuf) each scored to give the Warriors the lead back, but Messiah tied the game twice before Massaro forced a turnover with a check at midfield that freshman Owen Zimmerman (Stevens, Pa./Cocalico) picked up and went to goal with it. Another broken play right before halftime saw Ream get the ball off a deflected pass on the right side of the net, and he dropped in his fourth goal of the half into the right corner.
 
Massaro finished with three goals and an assist and Zimmerman posted a goal and an assist as well as three groundballs. Quigley notched a goal and two assists and junior Drew Collins (Victor, N.Y./Victor) added two assists as well.
 
Freshman Justin Joseph (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) won 19-of-29 faceoffs, finishing with 12 of Lycoming's 41 groundballs and seniors Cole Masterson (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) and Austin Arroyo (Shillington, Pa./Governor Mifflin) and junior Nick Russello (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) all had two caused turnovers.
 
Dylan Gillisse led the Falcons with four goals and Joseph Franken and Cory Hurst each had three. Quentin Johnson had 10 groundballs and four caused turnovers.

Senior Michael Tenant (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) finished with nine saves to earn the win, as he surpassed the school's single-season saves record of 230 set by Jared Jankowski in 2001 with his seventh stop of the game, which came in the third quarter. Evan Stoker stopped 10 shots for the Falcons.