Clermont, FL - On a trip that can certainly be described as "good timing," No. 12 Messiah women's lacrosse outlasted SUNY Geneseo 15-10 in a neutral site game played in Florida. Jenna Stover (five goals), Stephanie Athens (four), and Courtney Wagner (two) each tallied multiple times to lead the Falcons' attack, and Alexa Dipeso was a huge factor in cage with 17 saves.

Weather Report: Better Than Up North
The Falcons and Knights matched up down south, far away from the 20-plus inches of snow that much of Central Pennsylvania received from Monday evening through Tuesday afternoon. With cold temperatures and blustery winds expected for at least the next few days, grounds crews will undoubtedly need some extra time to clear turf and field surfaces for upcoming games. But all that didn't matter for the teams on Tuesday, as game time temperature in Clermont was in the high-60's.

Solid Start, Winning Finish
The Falcons scored four of the game's first five goals to get an early advantage, and it was their defense that set the tone. The Falcons collected five caused turnovers in the first 11:50 of play, and the Knights managed just three shots over that stretch. That effort supported the Messiah attack that received goals from Athens, Wagner (2), and Claire Stikeleather to build the aforementioned 4-1 advantage.

Fast forward to the end of the game, and it was again the Messiah defense that came up big. The Falcons led 12-6 with 12:44 to go, but their lead was cut to 13-10 with plenty of time--8:07 to be exact-- for a Knights' rally. But Alexa Dipeso came up with six saves over the final stretch, including three stops on free-position shots, and the Falcons sealed the win behind goals from Allie Colson and Jamie Bishop.

Better Draw Late
Messiah scored 15 goals on just 18 total shots, an odd occurrence made stranger by them attempting just eight shots in the second period. Despite the low total, the Falcons kept control of the game with pure possession; Messiah grabbed 10 of the 15 second-half draw controls after collecting just four of 12 in the first period, and they went 8-8 in clears over the final 30:00 to keep the Knights from fighting back even.

Turnover Trouble
A weakness for the Falcons continues to be their high number of turnovers, and that again an issue on Tuesday. Messiah committed 25 turnovers in the game, a number they countered with 12 caused turnovers against SUNY Geneseo.

In the Box
Stover added two assists to her five goals, and she, Athens, and Wagner combined for 11 goals on just 13 total shots. Brooke Gamble led the team with five groundballs and four Falcons collected two caused turnovers apiece: Athens, Ida Ehrhardt, Claire Griffin, and Colson. Ehrhardt (six) and Athens (four) combined to grab 10 of the team's 14 draw controls.

Next Up
Messiah (3-2) will next play on Wednesday, Mar. 22 when they travel to local rival Dickinson for a game at 4:00 p.m.