PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Messiah women's lacrosse used a big second-half to pull away from Nazareth College and win by a final score of 10-5 on Wednesday morning in the spring break opener.

Messiah improves to 2-2 on the year, while Nazareth falls to 2-3.

The Falcons outshot the Golden Flyers 27-14 in the game, including 23-11 on goal. However, Messiah struggled taking care of the ball, turning it over 17 times compared to 14 for Nazareth.

Courtney Wagner paced Messiah with her second hat trick of the season, scoring three goals on five shots. Jamie Bishop contributed well offensively, tallying two goals and one assist, while Mckenna Edwards handed out three assists to go with one goal.

After falling behind 2-0 to start the game, Messiah went on a 5-1 run to take a 5-3 lead with 7:58 to play in the opening half. The score at the break read 6-4 in favor of the Falcons, and Nazareth cut that deficit in half less than three minutes into the second period. However, that was the last time the Golden Flyers would score, as Messiah notched the final four goals of the game to take the 10-5 victory.

The Falcons continue their spring break trip in Port Charlottoe with a game against Whitman College (Walla Walla, Wash.) tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.