GRANTHAM, Pa. - With just over a minute remaining and the Falcons trialing Dickinson 11-10, Abby Howard drove from the left side and was awarded a free-position attempt. Howard converted the attempt to tie the game and after Messiah won the ensuing draw control Grace Gormley scored the game winner with just 16 seconds remaining to give the No. 25 Messiah women's lacrosse team a thrilling, 12-11 victory over the Dickinson Red Devils on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Grace Gormley led the Falcons with five goals on just six shots in the contest. Abby Howard (three goals), Amanda Wadsworth (two goals), Rachel Delate (two goals, one assist), and Joanna King (two assists) all collected multiple points in the victory. Between the pipes Heather Burnham made 11 saves.
 
Messiah trailed 5-4 at the half, but rallied after the break to claim the one-goal victory.
 
The Falcons move to 2-1 on the young season and will be back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 4 when they travel to Franklin & Marshall at 4:00 p.m.
 
Low-Scoring First Half
The Red Devils struck first in what turned out to be a bit of a low-scoring opening half. Emma Godfrey found the cage five minutes into the match to give Dickinson a 1-0 lead. Messiah's Abby Howard scored an unassisted tally to level at 1-1. The Red Devils scored two quick goals just over a minute apart, but the Falcons answered nine mintues later with a pair of scores from Amanda Wadsworth and Grace Gormley to level the game up at 3-3 with just over seven minutes remaining in the half.
 
After two more goals from Dickinson in a 10 second span, Messiah closed out the half with a goal from Gormley to make it a 5-4 games heading into the break.
 
Taking a Lead
Messiah scored four of the first six goals in the second half to take an 8-7 lead 11 minutes into the period off a tally from Amanda Wadsworth. Rachel Delate assisted the goal as Messiah took their first lead of the contest.
 
After a Dickinson score, Delate netted back-to-back unassisted tallies to push Messiah's lead to two at 10-8 with 14:17 remaining in regulation.
 
Back-to-Back for the Win
Dickinson countered with three-straight goals in a four-and-a-half-minute span to take the lead back at 11-10 with less than five minutes remaining.
 
After being held scoreless for over 13 minutes since the second of Delate's tallies, Messiah tied the game with a score by Abby Howard with 1:12 remaining in regulation. The equalizer came off a free position shot from the left-side. Howard slipped through a pair of defenders and beat the goalie from close range for the game-tying goal, evening the score at 11-11.
 
Just a minute before Howard's game-tying tally, Rachel Burnham saved a free position attempt by the Red Devils that would have given Dickinson a two-goal cushion with two minutes left in regulation. The save was the last of 11 on the afternoon for the sophomore goalie.
 
With the game tied and just over a minute to play, Messiah's Grace Gormley came up with the draw control and Messiah called timeout to set up a game plan. The plan evidently worked, as the Falcons milked the clock looking for the right moment. With 16 seconds on the clock, Joanna King found a cutting Gormley. Flanked by defenders, Gormley managed to find enough space for a shot that beat the goalie high and gave Messiah the 12-11 lead.
 
Messiah won the ensuing draw control to close out any hope of a last second equalizer for the Red Devils and Messiah claimed the 12-11 victory.
 
What's Up Next
With the victory, Messiah improves to 2-1 on the season and the Falcons will be back in action next Wednesday when they travel to Franklin & Marshall to take on the No. 6 Diplomats at 4:00 p.m.