Grantham, PA - No. 14 Messiah College scored eight goals in each half and controlled all areas of the field in a convincing 16-5 win over Albright College on Saturday afternoon. The game marked the first MAC Commonwealth contest for each team, with the Falcons moving to 1-0. The teams finished the game with identical 5-4 overall records.

Messiah's Courtney Wagner and Allie Colson each tallied in the first 90 seconds of the game as Messiah was on their way to an early 4-1 lead. After Erin Farrell tallied to make it 4-2 with 17:38 left in the first half, Messiah scored seven-straight goals that put them up 11-2 at the 23:25 mark of the final period. Wagner, Colson, and Kendra Herbenar each tallied three goals for the Falcons, with Jenna Stover scoring twice. A total of nine different Falcons scored goals, many of which came on well-executed one-on-one dodge and isolation calls.

The balanced and dominating effort included strong efforts from every area as the Falcons outshot the Lions 42-16, with a 31-13 edge in shots on goal. Messiah also went a perfect 12-12 on clears and finished with a 16-6 advantage in draw controls, both indicators of their winning of the territory and possession battle. Ida Ehrhardt finished with a game-high five draw controls after collecting a career-high 8 draw controls in Thursday's loss to Dickinson.

Messiah's one-on-one and team defense was also terrific as they held Albright's Erin Farrell (22 goals), Amanda Smith (24), and Mariah Cullen (20) to just four combined goals on 11 total shots. Brooke Gamble, Emma Hawthorne, and Kathryn Milwicz led that effort, and Alexa Dipeso (8 saves) did her part to frustrate the Lions' looks. Notably, Hawthorne collected a career-high seven caused turnovers, one shy of the single-game record held by Brianne Brennan from 2008.

Emily Hutson and Hayley Joyce split time in the cage for the Lions and they combined for 15 saves.

As mentioned, the win pushed Messiah to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons will next play on Wednesday, Apr. 6 when the host Lycoming College at 4:00 p.m.