NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - On Thursday afternoon, the Messiah women's lacrosse team dropped a 16-6 non-conference tilt against the Christopher Newport Captains on the road. Messiah stayed close, trailing by just three, 7-4, at the break, but the Captains outscored the Falcons 9-2 after the half to close out the victory.

Messiah had six different goal scorers in the contest while Julia Golden and Cat Leighty led all scorers with four tallies each for Christopher Newport. Leighty added four assists for a game-high eight points.

The Falcons will be back in action next Wednesday when they host the Catholic University of America at 4:00 p.m.

Hanging Tough
Christopher Newport got on the board early with Cat Leighty scoring less than two minutes into the game on a free position shot. Following the initial goal, defenses took over for the next nine minutes with neither team scoring. The Captains scored their second goal of the afternoon to break the scoreless streak before Messiah's Jamie Bishop got on the board off an assist from Annika Johnsen just over 11 minutes into the contest.

The Falcons and Captains then traded the next four goals to make it a 4-3 game after a tally from Jessie Wynne. During the back-and-forth stretch, Gabi Griffith connected for Messiah's other goal on a free position shot for the Falcons.

After back-to-back goals from Christopher Newport, Abby Howard found the back of the cage with a free position goal to make it a 6-4 game with 9:18 remaining in the opening half. The second nine-minute scoreless stretch of the half followed Howard's goal, with Julia Golden scoring just eight seconds before the end of the half to break the streak and give the Captains a 7-4 lead heading into the half.

Captains Pull Away
Following the break, Christopher Newport scored six-straight goals to start the second half, including two goals in the first 75 seconds of the period. The stretch gave the Captains a 13-4 lead before Annika Johnsen notched an unassisted goal with just over 11 minutes remaining in the contest.

After two more goals from the Captains, Abbi Munson scored the Falcons' second goal of the half, making it a 16-5 contest, but Captains capped off the scoring with a goal from Sarah Culver. The tally came with 1:18 remaining and lifted Christopher Newport to the 16-6 victory.

In the Box Score
Messiah outshot the Captains in the first half by a 15-13 margin and was only outshot by three, 25-22 in the contest. In goal, Christopher Newport's Kaitlyn Ready made 14 saves while allowing six goals. For Messiah Amber Orner made six saves while picking up a pair of groundballs.

What's Up Next
With the setback, the Falcons move to 1-7 on the season and will be back in action next Wednesday, March 27 when they host the Catholic University of America Cardinals at 4:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.