GRANTHAM, Pa. - No. 14 Messiah women's lacrosse raced out to an 11-2 lead at the half on their way to a 14-5 victory over Buffalo State University on Tuesday afternoon.
 
With their fourth win in the last five games, the Falcons improve to 5-3 on the year, while the Bengals fall to 4-3.
 
Jamie Bishop and Annika Johnsen both scored three goals for Messiah, with Bishop adding two assists and Johnsen one. Eight different Falcons scored in the contest, as Messiah tallied 35 shots compared to just 10 for Buffalo State.
 
Johnsen got the scoring started early, finding the back of the net less than two minutes into the game to give Messiah a 1-0 lead. Buffalo State came to play, however, as Ally Ruggieri scored twice in the next ten minutes around a Courtney Wagner goal to knot the game at two with just under 18 to play in the opening half.
 
That was as close as the Bengals would come to a lead for the rest of the game, as Wagner scored her team-leading 21st goal of the season at the 17-minute mark to ignite a 12-0 run for Messiah, including 11 unanswered before the halftime horn sounded.
 
After Jamie Bishop notched her third goal of the game to put Messiah up 12-2 with 29:20 to play, Buffalo State gained a little momentum. The Bengals tallied three-straight goals in a span of three and a half minutes to make it 12-5 with 18:24 left in regulation.
 
Despite being down a player due to penalty just over a minute later, Johnsen was able to stop the bleeding with her third goal of the game to put the Falcons back up by eight. Buffalo State scored with 13:02 left to make it 13-6, but a Jess Hatch goal coupled with the Falcons not allowing a Bengal shot over the rest of the game sealed the victory for Messiah.
 
The Falcons have a day off tomorrow before returning to their home turf on Thursday when they open conference play against Arcadia University at 4:00 p.m.