GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's lacrosse team opened the 2020 season on Wednesday by hosting the No. 4 Gettysburg Bullets on the Lacrosse Turf. The Bullets overwhelmed the Falcons on opening day, earning a 19-5 victory while outshooting Messiah 30-18.
 
Gettysburg jumped out to a 12-3 lead at the end of the opening half and added to the lead with seven-straight tallies to start the second half. Messiah countered with the final two scores of the game from Abigail Evans and Grace Gormley in the final six minutes, but the Bullets held on for the 19-5 victory.
 
Grace Gormley led the Falcons with a pair of scores on Wednesday, adding an assist as well. Amanda Wadsworth, Abigail Evans, and Abby Howard each found the back of the cage once in the loss. For Gettysburg, five Bullets scored multiple goals with Bri Stokes leading the way with five goals and four assists for a game-high nine points.
 
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday when they host the No. 20 University of Scranton Royals at 1:00 p.m.
 
How it Happened
The Bullets jumped in front early with a tally from Maria Nemeth just 25 seconds into the game off a fee from Liza Barr. That duo connected again less than two minutes later to double the Gettysburg lead to 2-0.
 
Messiah's Grace Gormley got the Falcons their first goal of the 2020 season with a free position goal less than three minutes into the contest.
 
The Bullets countered with the next five tallies with Bri Stokes and Kerry McKeever netting a pair each during the streak. Amanda Wadsworth ended the run with an unassisted tally just past the midpoint of the half. From the right-side of the cage, Wadsworth beat her defender to the inside and ripped a sot to the near post that beat the goalie to pull Messiah within five at 7-2 with 12:40 remaining in the half.
 
After two more Gettysburg tallies, Messiah found the back of the cage again with Abigail Evans finding Abby Howard to make it a 9-3 game with 5:53 remaining in the first half.
 
Gettysburg netted the final three tallies of the half to take a 12-3 lead into the break.
 
After the half, the Bullets got the clock rolling less than a minute into the half. Ella Orzechowski scored to push the lead to 10 and start the running clock. Over the next 20 minutes, the Bullets scored six more times to take a 19-3 lead with under 10 minutes remaining in the game.
 
Grace Gormley tallied with 5:41 remaining and, with Messiah holding a player advantage, Abigail Evans scored in the final three minutes to get the game to the final score of 19-5.
 
In the Box Score
In her first game as a Falcon, Hope Flack picked up a game-high 11 draw controls, earning as many as the Bullets had as a team. Flack also picked up a pair of groundballs and registered four shots in her Messiah debut.
 
As mentioned, Grace Gormley also had a strong start to her collegiate career. The freshman led the Falcons with a pair of goals and an assist on the afternoon for three total points. She was 1-1 on free-position shots and also picked up a groundball.
 
Between the pipes, Heather Burnham made eight saves for the Falcons while also picking up three goundballs.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons are back in action this weekend when they host the University of Scranton Royals at 1:00 p.m. The Royals were ranked No. 20 in the Preseason Coaches' Poll and will be opening their season on Saturday against the Falcons.