CHESTER, Pa. – The Messiah women's lacrosse team claimed a road victory over Widener University, 17-2, on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons used seven different goal scorers to improve to 2-0 on the season. Leading Messiah in scoring was senior attacker Abby Howard (6), followed by sophomore attacker Rachel Delate (3) and junior midfielder Hope Flack (2).
 
Messiah came out firing, jumping out to a 7-0 advantage in the opening ten minutes of play. Of those seven goals, Howard and Delate combined for five of the tallies. The Falcons continued to pour it on for the remainder of the first half, as Ehryn Groothoff, Makenzie Schnur, and Emma Lytle grabbed goals for Messiah. A commanding 13-1 halftime lead was fueled by 19 shots from the Falcons and winning 13 of 21 draw controls (.619%).
 
Three-consecutive goals from Grace Gormley, Delate, and Groothoff got things going for the Falcons to begin the second half. With the lead at 16-1, junior goalie Heather Burnham made a key save off a Widener free-position shot with 14:22 remaining. Flack tacked on a goal with 5:10 left in the game, as Messiah cruised to its second victory of the season, 17-2.
 
Messiah will be back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 17, when they travel to Albright College to take on the Lions at 7:00 p.m.
 
Quick Start Offensively
As mentioned, the Falcons took a big 13-1 lead into halftime, with four of their 13 goals being assisted on. Messiah only allowed four shots in the first half, with the one goal for the Pride coming from Chelsea Forsyth with 3:53 to play in the half. Abby Howard scored all six of her goals in the first half.
 
Closing It Out
Messiah scored four goals in the second half, with all four coming from different players. The Falcons were outshot by the Pride 8-5 in the final thirty minutes, but their dominating start gave them a comfortable 17-2 victory to move to 2-0.
 
Inside The Box Score
Howard's six goals tied a career-high set last season against Christopher Newport (Mar. 7, 2020). She has eight goals so far this season on just 14 shots.
 
Rachel Delate continued her hot start to the season with three more goals after scoring six in the season opening win over Lycoming. The sophomore has racked up 13 points (9 goals, 4 assists) over the Falcons first two games. Messiah has outscored their opponents 35-3 so far this season.
 
What's Up Next
As mentioned, Messiah is slated to travel to Reading, Pa. to face the Albright College Lions on Wednesday, Mar. 17 at 4:00 p.m.