York, PA – No. 14 Messiah College dropped a tight contest with No. 8 York College on Wednesday, falling by the score of 8-5. Stephanie Athens led the Falcons with three goals.
 
The loss dropped Messiah to 1-2, with both their losses coming to Top 15 teams in No. 6 Gettysburg and the No. 8 Spartans. York improved to 2-1, and they were led in scoring on Wednesday by three different multi-goal scorers: Melissa Meehling, Katelyn Cattrano, and Kayleigh Phillips.
 
The Falcons held a short-lived lead over the Spartans in the early minutes thanks to a goal from Stephanie Athens. The Falcons' midfielder scooped up a groundball after a missed shot by a teammate, and she fired quickly over the shoulder of keeper Charlotte Wright.
 
Messiah's advantage lasted for four minutes at which point York scored four unanswered goals. Four different Spartans tallied over the stretch as York used both deliberate execution and quick tallies in transition to go in front.
 
Shayna Delaney got Messiah back on the board at the 12:35 mark, with Liz Brenna picking up the assist with a feed from behind the right side of the cage. After a goal by a fifth different York player at the 12:00 mark, Athens scored again to make it 5-3. This time Athens tallied off an impressive dodge on the left side and a quick shot across the cage.
 
York did earn back momentum before the half, scoring twice to take a 7-3 lead. Their final goal of the frame came from Kayleigh Phillips off a great pass from Rachel Saks, with Saks' helper threading two defenders from behind the cage to set up Phillips' quick release.
 
At the start of the second-half Athens tallied again, this time off a feed from Delaney on the right side. Athens caught quickly on her cut across the top of the crease, and she turned and shot in the same motion to beat Wright.
 
Unfortunately, much like they did the first-half, York responded by gathering possession and slowing down the tempo. They held the ball for much of the next 11 minutes before Katelyn Cattrano rolled in from the left side for a one-on-one goal against Alexa Dipeso.
 
The game remained 8-4 into the final minutes, with York holding long stretches of possession and also frustrating the Falcons in their own attempts to get even. Even still, Alexa Dipeso (four saves) did a great job to keep the Spartans from running away with game.
 
A late goal by Ida Ehrhardt finished the scoring at 8-5.
 
Messiah will next play in Colorado next Wednesday, Mar. 9 when they compete against both Coast Guard and Colorado.