HAMBURG, N.Y. — Tanner Mesing (Freedom, Pa., Freedom) sparked a tremendous Thiel comeback with four goals in 10 minutes as the Tomcats erased a 4-1 deficit on their way to a 6-4 win over Hilbert.

Mesing, a freshman who has played defense all year for the Tomcats, made the most of his opportunity up front, tying Thiel's record for goals in a game. Nikola Vasilev netted four goals against Waynesburg in 2004.

Under 18 minutes remained in the game when Thiel began its comeback. Mesing's first goal came on a header off a corner kick by Erik Gabrich (Baden, Pa., Freedom ) at the 72:28 mark. He added the second goal six minutes later off an assist by Francis Ahia (Penn Hills, Pa., Penn Hills) and netted an unassisted goal just three minutes after that. Mesing's final goal, the go-ahead score for the Tomcats, came just one minute later and was assisted by Darwin Porras (Miami, Fla., Coral Reef).

"We were outplayed and disappointed for the first 70 minutes," Thiel coach Andy Hoggarth said. "We made some changes and put Tanner up front. We told him to win balls in the air and create chances for us and he did that. It shows a lot of heart from our squad to come back like we did."

The goals were the first four of the season for Mesing. His great game overshadowed a breakout performance by another Tomcat freshman. Tyler Hanks (Cleveland, Ohio, Olmstead Falls) tallied his first two goals of the season, including a game-tying score in the 34th minute and an insurance goal in the 90th minute. Chris Lepley (Mechanicsburg, Pa., Cedar Cliff) assisted on Hanks' first goal while the second was unassisted.

With the win, Thiel has already tied last season's win total with nine games remaining on the schedule. The Tomcats are 5-4-1 and will host Muskingum in a non-conference tilt Tuesday, That game will begin at 5 p.m. and will be held at Kennedy Catholic High School.

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