GRANTHAM, Pa. - After trailing the Christopher Newport Captains 5-4 at the half, the Messiah women's lacrosse team rattled off seven-straight goals to begin the second half en route to a 14-7 victory on Saturday afternoon in Grantham. Led by Hope Flack (six draw controls) and Katelyn Pearson (five draw controls), Messiah was dominate on the draw control, winning 15 of the 21 draws contested.
 
By controlling the draw, Messiah held the vast majority of possession on Saturday afternoon, leading to a 42-16 advantage in shots on the day. The Falcons put 30 of their shots on frame against 13 shots on goal for Christopher Newport.
 
Offensively, Abby Howard led four goal scorers with a half dozen tallies in the victory. Hope Flack connected four times and added a pair of assists while Natalie Hoff scored three and Amanda Wadsworth scored once.
 
Messiah improves to 3-2 on the season and will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Skidmore at 4:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.
 
Slow First Half
The opening half of Saturday's game featured just nine combined goals with the Captains leading 5-4 at the end of the period. Abby Howard got the Falcons started with a goal just over two minutes into the contest, but the Captains responded with back-to-back tallies from Kelsey Winters and Zoe Dyer to give Christopher Newport a 2-1 lead just over five minutes into the game.
 
Natalie Hoff then dished out assists on consecutive goals by Hope Flack and Abby Howard. The scores from Flack and Howard gave Messiah the lead back at 3-2 after 10 minutes of play.
 
After three-straight Christopher Newport goals and 19 scoreless minutes from the Falcons, Messiah trailed 5-3 with just a minute before the half. Hope Flack scored an unassisted goal just before the break to bring Messiah within one at 5-4 heading to the break
 
In the opening half, Messiah outshot the Captains 18-11, but it was Christopher Newport goalie, Becca Creekmore that kept things close with 10 saves in the period.
 
Controlling the Draw…And the Game
Messiah won the opening draw control of the second half and never looked back. Abby Howard scored on a free position shot just over a minute into the half to level the score and after the Falcons won another draw control, Hope Flack was giving the Falcons the lead back off an assist from Abigail Evans.
 
Another draw control and goal from Howard gave Messiah a 7-5 lead, five minutes into the second half.
 
In total the Falcons won 10 draw controls in the second half alone against just three from the Captains in the half. By controlling the draw, Messiah kept possession away from the Captains. Christopher Newport was held without a shot for the first six and a half minutes of the second half. During that time, the Falcons had scored three times to take a lead they would not give up.
 
Messiah scored the first seven goals of the first half to take an 11-5 lead midway through the half.
 
Natalie Hoff scored three goals in the second half to help lead Messiah to the 14-7 victory and improve to 3-2 on the season.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah will be back in action this Wednesday when they host the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds on the Lacrosse Turf at 4:00 p.m. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Falcons and Thoroughbreds.