GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's lacrosse team hung tough with the No. 2 Mary Washington Eagles during the first half of their game on Saturday afternoon, but the Eagles outscored the Falcons 15-3 in the second-half to claim a 21-9 victory. Messiah and Mary Washington were deadlocked at 6-6 after the first half of play, but the Eagles closed the game on a 12-1 run to seal the victory.
 
Mary Washington's Julia Albert led all players with seven goals and five assists for 12 total points while Abby Howard paced the Falcons' offense with three goals on seven shots.
 
Messiah will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon when they travel to Lycoming to take on the Warriors at 4:00 p.m. in Williamsport, Pa.
 
Back-And-Forth Opening Half
Mary Washington opened Saturday's game with back-to-back goals in the first three minutes, but the Falcons quickly countered back with scores by Jessie Wynne and Abby Howard in the next minute to level the game at 2-2. After the Eagles scored a woman up goal, the Falcons found the back of the net with tallies from Annika Johnsen and Jamie Bishop to take a 4-3 lead midway through the period.
 
Nearly five scoreless minutes followed after the Falcons took the lead, but three-straight goals from Mary Washington took the lead back at 6-4 with six and a half minutes remaining in the half.
 
Nice Finishes
Messiah notched the final two tallies of the opening half with scores from Abby Howard and Amanda Wadsworth to close out the period. Wadsworth's tally came after a spin move to the outside created some space for a bounce shot past the goalie. The score from Wadsworth tied the game at 6-6 heading to the half.
 
After a pair of scores from the Eagles' leading scorer, Julia Albert, to start the half, Mckenna Edwards unleashed the most impressive goal of the game with a backhanded shot that surprised the Eagles' goalie. The scored pulled Messiah with one at 8-7.
 
Eagles Take Control
With 26:22 remaining in regulation, Mary Washington's Hope Lockwood scored her second goal of the afternoon to push the Eagles' lead to a pair at 9-7. Makenzie Schnur responded with her first tally of the season off a quality feed from Joanna King to once again pull the Falcons within one at 9-7.
 
Julia Albert started a 12-1 run for the Eagles that closed out the game and lifted Mary Washington to the 21-9 victory. Not only did Albert start the run, but she fueled is as well, collecting three goals and four assists in the final 23 minutes of play.
 
Abby Howard was the only Falcon to score during the run, scoring a player up for Messiah with 7:08 remaining in the game for her third tally of the contest.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons move to 0-5 after Saturday's game with four of their five games against teams currently ranked in the top-20, including three games against teams ranked in the top four in the country. Messiah will look for their first victory of the season when they travel to Lycoming College on Tuesday for their first MAC Commonwealth game. Game time is slated for 4:00 p.m.