Grantham, PA - On a sunny yet windy evening, two of the top women's lacrosse teams batted it out at Starry Athletic Complex. No. 12 Messiah College women's lacrosse fell to No. 9 York College in a score of 9-5. Messiah had a strong first half, leading the Spartans 4-2 going into the break. The Spartans came alive in the second half and scored seven goals compared to the Falcons single goal. The Falcons moved to 2-2 on the season, while the Spartans are now 3-1.

Jenna Stover led the Falcons in scoring with four goals off of six shot attempts. Ida Ehrhardt added the other goal for the Falcons and she also dished out an assist. Alexa Dipeso collected four saves in the cage.

Quick, Strong Start for the Falcons
Messiah started the game with aggressive defensive play and great offensive pressure. Although York collected the first goal of the game at the 27:20 mark, the Falcons stepped on the gas and scored three goals under six minutes of play.

Ida Ehrhardt ignited the Falcons offense by scoring just 20 seconds after the Spartans first goal; this would be her seventh of the season. Around four minutes later, Ehrhardt found Jenna Stover cutting inside the eight meter arc, delivered the pass, and Stover executed to give the Falcons a 2-1 advantage. Just over a minute later, Stover again would find the back of the cage with a shot from some distance to pull the Falcons ahead three goals to one.

Messiah possessed the ball in York's defensive zone for a majority of the first half. With 8:27 remaining in the first, Stover picked up a hat-trick by scoring off of a free position shot and gave the Falcons the 4-1 lead. After winning the very next draw control, York responded as Regan Cook drove down the middle and buried the ball in the back of the net, this would be York's second and only other goal in the first half.

The Falcons dominated in the first half of play. Messiah out-shot York 12-6 and picked up 11 groundballs compared to the Spartan's seven. York also had trouble taking care of the ball and gathered 11 turnovers while the Falcons only had seven in the first 30 minutes of play.

Missed Opportunity
The Falcons had three free position attempts within the first seven minutes of the second half, but were unable to convert any goals from those opportunities. At the 23:31 mark, Elle Bargar had a free position shot attempt that was saved by York's keeper, Charlotte Wright. These missed opportunities would hurt as York quickly changed the pace of the game.

Spartans Come Alive in Second Half
Unlike Messiah, York was able to convert in the second half and created more offensive opportunities. The Spartans out-shot the Falcons 13-3 in the final 30 minutes. The Spartans went on a 5-0 scoring run against the Falcons within a matter of 13 minutes. Two of those goals were scored within nine seconds of each other in which York took the lead from Messiah.

Solo Goal
With 5:25 remaining in the game, Claire Stikeleather found Stover cutting down the middle, she delivered the pass, and Stover shot over the top left side of goalie, Charlotte Wright, and scored her ninth goal of the season. Messiah was now only trailing 7-5 but the Falcons picked up some late fouls and were unable to convert any more points. York went on and scored two more goals in the last few minutes of play and defeated the Falcons 9-5.

Final Game Notes
Overall, York out-shot Messiah 19 to 15 and won 11 out of the 16 draw controls. Both teams had tremendous success on their clear attempts, Messiah went 15 of 17 and York went 13 of 16. Messiah did a great job taking care of the ball and only collected 14 turnovers for the entire game, while the Spartans had 16 turnovers.

Next Up
The No. 12 Falcons will next play Tuesday, March 14, as they take on SUNY Geneseo in Clermont, FL. The game is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.