GRANTHAM, Pa. - A strong second-half led the Messiah women's lacrosse team to a 21-9 victory over the Alvernia Golden Wolves on Senior Day. The Falcons held a 12-7 advantage at the break before outscoring the Golden Wolves 9-2 after the break for the 12-goal victory. Mckenna Edwards scored four goals to lead 11 different goal scores for the Falcons on the day.
 
Katelyn Pearson and Jamie Bishop each netted three tallies while Amanda Wadsworth, Gabi Griffith, and Annika Johnsen each scored two goals apiece.
 
The Falcons move to 4-1 in the MAC Commonwealth with the victory and will be back in action on Wednesday when they host the Hood Blazers at 4:00 p.m.
 
Falcons Take an Early Lead
Messiah got on the board just 1:18 into Saturday's game when Jamie Bishop found a cutting Mckenna Edwards to give Messiah a 1-0 lead. The goal was the first of a team-high four tallies for Edwards on the afternoon. Two and a half minutes later, Annika Johnsen found Katelyn Pearson to double the Falcons' lead to 2-0.
 
The Golden Wolves then scored two of the next three tallies to pull within one at 3-2. After the Falcons claimed the ensuing draw control, they earned earned a free position attempt where Makenzie Schnur quickly found Bishop for the tally and a 4-2 Messiah lead. That goal started a 30-second stretch for Messiah that featured scores from Bishop, Abby Howard, and Natalie Hoff.
 
Four minutes later, Abigail Evans tallied to give Messiah a 7-2 lead with 17:19 remaining in the half.
 
Back-and-Forth Middle
After Messiah controlled the first portion of the game, the Falcons and Golden Wolves traded blows through the final 17 minutes of the half. Both Messiah and Alvernia scored five goals apiece in the final stretch before the break. Messiah collected tallies from Pearson, Johnsen, Edwards, and two from Wadsworth to take a 12-7 lead at the break.
 
Messiah Pulls Away
After leading by five at the break, Messiah pulled away with a dominate 8-0 run to begin play in the second half. Five of those eight tallies came in the first two minutes of the half to start the running clock with a 17-7 lead. The final three goals of the run ballooned the Messiah lead to 20-7 before Alvernia scored a pair of late goals.
 
Joanna King ended the game with a goal for the Falcons with a free position goal in the final minute of the game. Her third tally of the year gave Messiah the 21-9 victory.
 
In the Box Score
Eleven Falcons scored in the game with Mckenna Edwards leading the way with four tallies. A total of 13 different players collected at least one point in the game. Messiah was 7-13 on free position attempts with Pearson and Johnsen each scoring a pair of free-position goals.
 
Messiah outshot the Golden Wolves 34-23 in the contest.
 
What's Up Next
With the win, Messiah advances to 4-1 in the MAC Commonwealth and will be back in action on Wednesday when they host the Hood Blazers at 4:00 p.m.