GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Falcons fell to the No. 7 York Spartans in a windy back and forth battle. Messiah struck first with goals from Jessie Wynne and Abby Howard just over six minutes into the contest. The Spartans responded with two goals of their own to bring the game even. The Falcons and Spartans traded goals for the last 12 minutes of the first half with Messiah falling one goal short of a tie at the half with the score set at 6-5 in favor of York.

After the break, the Spartans went on a 6-0 run that lasted just short of twelve minutes before Annika Johnsen tallied her second goal of the day to stop the Spartans' run and set the score at 12-6. York added two more goals with under 15 minutes remaining in regulation to make it 14-6 in York's favor. After nearly seven full minutes of scoreless play, the Falcons earned four goals in two minutes and five seconds, forcing the Spartans to call a timeout to slow the Falcons' momentum. The Falcons' 4-0 proved to be too little, too late as Messiah fell 14-10 against the No. 7 Spartans. 

Mckenna Edwards (3 goals) and Annika Johnsen (3g) led the way for Messiah's offense, both recording hat tricks while Jessie Wynne (2g), Abby Howard (1g, 1a), and Jamie Bishop (1g) all recorded goals as well. Katie Stottlemyer collected six ground balls on the day and Amber Orner made eight saves between the pipes.

First Half Battle
Messiah tallied first on Saturday afternoon's windy contest with a goal from freshmen Jessie Wynne. Moments later, Messiah registered another goal, this time from Abby Howard, taking a 2-0 lead over the Spartans. York responded with a goal from Jordan Conley with 18:49 remaining in the first half and a goal from Chloe MacDonald just over five minutes later, bring the game to 2-2 with 13:35 on the clock.

Just over a minute and a half later, Annika Johnsen got the scoring started once again, netting her first goal of the day to give Messiah the slight 3-2 advantage. York won the draw control and scored right after getting in their attacking third, bringing the game to 3-3 tie with 10:58 left in the first half. 

The Falcons capitalized on a free position attempt with a goal from Mckenna Edwards to take a 4-3 lead with 8:58 to play before the break. The Spartans responded with a goal immediately after winning the draw control, bringing the game to 4-4 for the third tie of the contest.

Mckenna Edwards scored her second goal of the day of another free position attempt with 6:47 to play in the first half. After five minutes of scoreless play, the Spartans brought the game to a tie once more with a goal from Devin Hursey before taking a 6-5 lead right before the first half ended with a goal from Meghan Fox with five seconds on the clock.

Spartans Extend Lead
The Spartans controlled the first 11 minutes and 23 seconds of the second half, scoring six goals to take a 12-5 lead over Messiah. In that time span, the Falcons recorded five turnovers and failed to win a draw control or tally a shot. Annika Johnsen recorded her second goal of the day to end the Spartans' run, setting the score 12-6 with 16:58 to play in the second half. York continued to expand their lead after notching two more goals to take a 14-6 lead over the Falcons.

Late Push
After a scoreless seven minutes and 42 seconds by both times, Jessie Wynne sparked the Falcons' offense with 3:32 on the clock with her second goal of the day. Jamie Bishop, Annika Johnsen and Mckenna Edwards all tallied a goal with two minutes of Wynne to force the Spartans to talk things over with 1:27 remaining on the clock. The late 4-0 run brought the score to 14-10 in favor of York but was too little to complete the comeback. 

What's Next
Messiah is now 1-6 on the season and will travel to Christopher Newport University on Mar. 21 at 3:30 p.m.