Grantham, PA - In a season-opening battle of two Top-15 teams it was some late momentum that decided an 11-6 decision for No. 6 Gettysburg over No. 14 Messiah. The Bullets scored four unanswered goals starting with 15:26 left to play, with two over Amanda Boruki's game-high four goals coming over that stretch.

Shayna Delaney and Stephanie Athens each tallied twice for Messiah as the Falcons and Bullets traded blows for most of the afternoon. The win moved Gettysburg 1-0 while Messiah fell to 0-1.

Messiah's afternoon started in quick fashion as they won the opening draw control and scored after just 51 seconds of play. Audrey Liberti and Allie Colson combined for the tally in front of the cage, with Colson deftly avoiding goalie Shannon Keeler for the 1-0 lead. That goal stood for nearly nine minutes before Abby Baigelman and Maggie Connolly both scored for Gettysburg in a stretch of just 19 seconds. Connolly's score came straight from the draw control and she faked a hand-off before racing to the cage unmarked for the shot.

The Falcons evened the score just over midway through the frame, thanks in part to a yellow card called on the Bullets' Emma Christie. Liz Brennan made good on the opportunity at the 13:14 mark, with Ida Ehrhardt collecting the assist. Unfortunately, a yellow on Stephanie Athens moments later set up a similar chance for the Bullets, and they also capitalized to go up 3-2.

As the minutes clicked down the teams continued to trade blows, but it was Gettysburg who scored three-straight times to end the first-half and go up 6-3.

Gettysburg made it four-straight goals with a tally early in the second-half, but Messiah roared back with back-to-back tallies from Athens and Delaney. Those scores made it 7-5 in favor of the Bullets, and they had a chance to get even closer with a free-position shot from Colson at the 16:26 mark, but Keeler came up with a huge save. It was one of eight saves for Keeler on the afternoon, and the Falcons were on their way to going 0-4 on free-position shots.

In contrast to the Falcons' missed chance, Borucki put through a free-position shot for the Bullets to make it 8-5 with 15:26 to play. That tally started another 4-0 run for the Bullets that ended with 2:35 to play and Gettysburg leading 11-5. Delaney almost tallied when it was still 9-5, but her quick fire from the right side hit the crossbar.

Delaney did put through her second goal of the game with 2:15 to play, but Messiah was unable to completely close the game in the loss.

Messiah did collect 11 of 19 draw controls, and the teams combined to go 27-29 on clear attempts. Messiah even outshot the Bullets 24-22, but Gettysburg put more shots on goal (16-14). Alexa Dipeso did have a solid game for the Falcons in the cage, too, collecting five saves.

The Falcons will now take a full week to prepare for their next game on Saturday, Feb. 27 at McDaniel College.