GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's lacrosse team earned a 17-14 victory over the Widener Pride on Wednesday afternoon to improve to 2-0 in the MAC Commonwealth this season. Annika Johnsen notched four tallies in the match to lead four Falcons with multiple goals. The Falcons built a 6-2 lead with 18:49 remaining in the opening half, before the Pride finished the half on an 8-4 run to level the score at 10-10 heading in to the break.

After the half, things remained tight with Widener holding a slight 16-15 advantage in shots in the final 30 minutes. Despite being outshot after the break, Messiah outscored Widener 17-14 in the final 30 minutes to earn the three-goal victory.

With the game tied 14-14 just past the midpoint of the second half, the Falcons held the Pride scoreless for the remainder of the game, while scoring three goals during that same span to pull away for the win.

Messiah continues conference play this weekend when they travel to Albright to take on the Lions at 1:00 p.m.

First-Half Messiah Run
The Pride blitzed the Falcons with a pair of quick goals in the first two minutes and change of the contest to take an early 2-0 lead. Things settled down for the Falcons when Katelyn Pearson won a draw control and just moments later earned a free position attempt. She tallied on the attempt to start a run of six-straight Messiah goals.

During the 8:45 run, five different Falcons scored with Pearson, Joanna King, Makenzie Schnur, and Annika Johnsen each scoring one. Abby Howard was the lone Falcon to score multiple goals on the streak, netting the tying goal at 2-2 before scoring again to make it a 5-2 Messiah advantage.

Widener Battles Back
Just over 10 seconds after Johnsen scored to make it a 6-2 Messiah lead, the Pride started an 8-4 run that closed out the final 18:38 of the first half to tie the game at 10-10. While Widener was on their run, Messiah did find the back of the net four times, including an impressive behind-the-back goal from Mckenna Edwards right around the mid-point of the half.

Widener's leading scorer Kelly Lynch was in the middle of the run, scoring her 37th, 38th, and 39th goals of the year during the final 17 minutes of the half.

Lynch tallied her 40th goal of the year less than 90 seconds in to the second half to give the Pride their first lead of the game in nearly 30 minutes.

Falcons Pull Ahead In the End
After 20 combined goals in the first 30 minutes of play, the two offenses slowed their pace down with just 11 total tallies after the break. Including Lynch's initial goal to start the second half, Messiah and Widener each scored four of the first eight goals in the half to level the score at 14-14.

Mckenna Edwards, who had already scored an impressive behind-the-back goal in the first half, highlighted the back-and-forth play early in the second half with a low-to-high rip that evened the score at 11-11 exactly two minutes into the period.

Messiah would go on to score the final three goals of the game on scores from Jamie Bishop, Natalie Hoff, and Annika Johnsen. Bishop broke the 14-14 tie with a quick tally off a pass from Makenzie Schnur on a free position attempt. That goal turned out to be the game-winner as the Falcons claimed the 17-14 win.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action when they travel to Albright for a MAC Commonwealth game against the Lions at 1:00 p.m.