GRANTHAM, Pa. - It didn't take long for the Falcons to get going in their season opener against Lycoming, as Rachel Delate scored just 23 seconds into the first half. Messiah would take a 4-0 lead less than five minutes into the game and would never look back. They took a 13-0 lead at halftime, and didn't allow a Warrior shot throughout the first 30 minutes. Lycoming would tally one goal on a free-position shot in the second half, but the Falcons dominated the contest, coming away with an 18-1 victory to move to 1-0 on the season.
 
Rachel Delate recorded nine points in the contest, with six goals and three assists while Hope Flack added three goals for the Falcons. Messiah will be back in action on Thursday, Mar. 11 when they travel to Hoboken, N.J. to take on Stevens Institute of Technology at 4:00 p.m.
 
Dominating Opening Half of Play
The Falcons scored early and often on Saturday afternoon in their 2021 Season Opener. As mentioned, Rachel Delate led Messiah's offense with six goals in the contest and she got started early, scoring just 23 seconds into the season. Off a feed from Amanda Wadsworth for the Falcons' first goal of the year.
 
After Hope Flack doubled the Falcons lead to 2-0 with an unassisted tally, Delate added two more off feeds from Wadsworth again and Katie Heck. The three scores from Delate and one from Flack made it a 4-0 lead just five minutes into the contest.
 
Messiah continued to pour it on early, adding five scores in the next five minutes of play. A pair of goals from both Hope Flack and Abby Howard along with Delate's fourth goal of the day made it 9-0.
 
Riley Latshaw found Makenzie Schnur with 17:20 for the Falcons' 10th score of the afternoon to get the clock rolling.
 
By halftime, Messiah had grown their lead to 13-0 and had not allowed a shot to the Warriors, outshooting them 31-0 in the opening half
 
Lycoming on the Board
Once again, Rachel Delate got the scoring going after halftime with an unassisted tally, but the Warriors countered less than 10 minutes into the period. Tess Arnold scored on Lycoming's first, and only, shot of the day with 21:40 remaining in the contest, making it a 14-1 Messiah lead.
 
Falcons Close it Out
After the Warriors' tally, Messiah would go on to score the final four goals of the contest. Highlighting the final minutes of play was the first career tally from Emily Reisinger, who has battled through numerous injuries and surgeries during her career. She notched an unassisted goal with 2:04 remaining to help put the cheery on top of an 18-1 season opening victory for the Falcons.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will travel to Stevens Institute of Technology on Thursday afternoon for a 4:00 p.m. contest with the Ducks in Hoboken, N.J. Thursday's meeting will be the third-ever meeting between the Falcons and Ducks. Stevens has earned one-goal victories in the two previous meetings, most recently an 8-7 win over Messiah on Mar. 16, 2005.