GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's lacrosse team scored in bunches at times on Saturday afternoon to earn a 20-9 victory over the visiting Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets. The Falcons netted nine tallies in the first 18 minutes of the contest and scored eight times in the third quarter alone to shoot past the Yellow Jackets.
 
Leading the Falcons offensively was Hope Flack with six goals, Rachel Delate with four goals and two assists and Amanda Wadsworth with one goal and three assists. In total, nine different Falcons found the back of the cage in the offensive explosion.
 
Defensively, nine different Falcons caused turnovers with Emma Hagg and Sadie Leonard leading the way with three each.
 
With the double-digit victory, Messiah moves to 2-1 on the young season and will be back in action against No. 7 Franklin and Marshall on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.
 
High-Scoring Start
Messiah and Randolph-Macon combined for 10 first-quarter goals with the Falcons building a 7-3 lead after 15 minutes of play. Messiah scored less than 90 seconds in to the contest with Ehryn Groothoff connecting on an unassisted tally. After back-to-back Randolph-Macon goals, the Yellow Jackets took an early 2-1 lead after less than four minutes of play.
 
The Falcons responded with four goals in a little over a one minute span to take a 5-2 lead with 9:23 remaining in the quarter. Four different Falcons scored during the quick burst with Grace Gormley, Makenzie Schnur, Rachel Delate, and Hope Flack all finding the back of the cage.
 
Flack and Gormley added tallies later in the period as the Falcons took a four-goal advantage into the second quarter.
 
The scoring did not stop as play entered the second period, with three goals in the first 3:10 of the second. Ehryn Groothoff connected on both of Messiah's tallies during the run of play. The first was assisted by Rachel Delate and the second coming on a free-posititon attempt. After the flurry of activity, Messiah held a 9-4 lead with the bulk of the second quarter still to play.
 
Defensive Second
For the final 11:50 seconds of the first half, neither team found the back of the cage. During the stretch, Messiah outshot the Yellow Jackets 7-3, but Randolph-Macon's goalie Caraline Cypher made seven saves down the stretch of the period to hold Messiah's lead at five, 9-4 heading to the half.
 
Creating Separation
Messiah's offense started clicking once again in the third quarter, connecting for eight goals on nine shots. Rachel Delate got the party started with an unassisted score just a minute into the period followed by two scores from Hope Flack to give Messiah a 12-4 lead. Randolph-Macon scored two of the next three goals, but Abigail Evans sparked a 3-0 Messiah run that put the Falcons up by double-digits at 16-6. Jordan Lewicki scored the third tally of that run to get the clock rolling.
 
After three Yellow Jacket goals at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, Messiah tallied the final three scores of the game to earn the 20-9 victory.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will now turn their attention to another out-of-conference foe that they are a little more familiar with. The No. 7 Franklin and Marshall Diplomats will travel to Grantham on Wednesday for the Falcons and Diplomats' annual meeting. The opening draw on Wednesday is slated for 4:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.