READING, Pa. - The Messiah women's lacrosse team dropped a tough 12-11 decision against the Albright Lions on Saturday afternoon in Reading. The Falcons held a 7-5 lead at the break, but the Lions battled back and outscored Messiah 7-4 after the intermission to claim the one-goal victory.
 
Messiah only had three goal scorers in the game with Annika Johnsen, Abby Howard, and Jamie Bishop each collecting multiple goals. Johnsen finished with five while Howard connected for four to lead the offense.
 
 Messiah moves to 2-1 in the conference and 2-10 overall. The Falcons are next in action on Wednesday when they travel to Glenside to take on the Arcadia Knights at 4:00 p.m.

Lions Take Early Lead
Saturday's game started with Albright taking a 4-1 lead just past the midpoint of the opening half. Despite the 4-1 advantage for the Lions, Messiah actually held a 9-7 advantage in total shots in the first 16:04 of the game. The Falcons were held off the board until Abby Howard connected on her 17th tally of the season with 15:48 remaining in the half.
 
That tally from Howard accounted for the only goal of the early going for the Falcons. Albright on the other hand took advantage of their opportunities, scoring four goals by four different players to take the three-goal lead.
 
Falcons Claim the Lead
After Lauren China scored for the Lions to put Albright up 4-1 with 13:56 left in the half, Messiah took control. Annika Johnsen scored back-to-back free position goals in a span of 1:07 to pull the Falcons within one at 4-3. Albright countered with a free position goal of their own to build the cushion to two at 5-3, but Messiah closed out the half with four-straight goals to claim a 7-5 lead at the break.
 
It was Johnsen again tallying with under 11 minutes remaining in the half to complete her hat trick off an assist from Joanna King. With 9:11 remaining in the opening half, Howard scored her second goal of the game off a find from Amanda Wadsworth to tie the game at 5-5. Consecutive goals from Johnsen and Jamie Bishop finished the half and Messiah took a 7-5 lead into the break.
 
Messiah controlled the opening half with a 19-10 advantage in shots, putting 14 of their attempts on frame compared to just seven by the Lions.
 
Albright Complete the Comeback
After the half, Albright and Messiah traded the first six goals of the period with the Lions answering every attempt Messiah made to pull away. Albright's China scored the first goal of the half to cut the lead to one less than six minutes into the period. Messiah would score three goals in the next 10 minutes, but each Falcons' score was answered within a minute by a tally from the Lions.
 
A free position goal by Albright's Maddie Taylor with 13:25 remaining in the half made it a 10-9 game and less than a minute later the Lions tied the score with a goal from Sophie Bass. Six minute later China scored her third goal of the afternoon to put Albright in front 11-10. Messiah only trailed for 46 seconds as Jamie Bishop answered almost immediately with a tally off a pass from Joanna King. That goal tied the game at 11-11 with 5:21 remaining in regulation.
 
Albright nearly took the lead right back, but a shot rattled off the post and moments later Amber Orner came up big save on a free position attempt. After a successful Messiah clear, the Falcons had back-to-back shots turned away by Terae Mason between the pipes and Albright took over with two and a half minutes remaining.
 
A minute later Kelly Baumann scored an unassisted goal to give Albright the 12-11 lead with just over a minute and a half remaining. Messiah controlled the ensuing draw but a turnover gave the Lions the ball and they held on for the final minute of play to earn their first-ever victory over Messiah. The 12-11 loss snaps an impressive 40-game regular season conference winning streak that dates back to the 2014 season for the Falcons.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Arcadia for a MAC Commonwealth contest at 4:00 p.m.