LANCASTER, Pa. – In a battle of top-15 teams early in the season, the No. 13 Messiah women's lacrosse team dropped their first game of the season by a final score of 19-11 against the No. 8 Franklin & Marshall Diplomats. The Falcons were on the board first, but the Diplomats used a 6-2 run to close out the opening quarter and take a three-goal lead after 15 minutes of play.
 
The Falcons closed the gap to as few as two points at 7-5 and 9-7, but the Diplomats outscored Messiah 8-2 in the third quarter to build a comfortable lead en route to the 19-11 decision. Rachel Delate led the Falcons with five points, scoring two goals and adding three assists in the match. Makenzie Schnur scored a team-high three goals for the Falcons.
 
The loss is Messiah's first of the season as they move to 2-1 on the year. The Falcons will be back in action on Monday, Mar. 6 when they take on Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo. at 4:00 p.m. MT/6:00 p.m. ET.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons stuck first on Wednesday afternoon with Makenzie Schnur scoring just over two minutes into the contest on an unassisted tally. The Diplomats responded with four-straight goals over the next seven minutes to take a 4-1 lead. The busy first quarter continued with Hayley Lettinga scoring with 5:16 remaining in the quarter and Makenzie Schnur finding Annalise Keitel for Messiah's third tally of the day less than a minute and a half later.
 
Franklin & Marshall scored the final two goals of the period to take a 6-3 lead into the second quarter.
 
While Messiah scored three goals in the second, the Diplomats connected on three of their own as well. Emma Lytle, Schnur, and Ehryn Groothoff all found the back of the cage in the period as the Falcons trailed 9-6 as the half.
 
Just as she did early in the first quarter, Makenzie Schnur got the Falcons on the board to start the third quarter, doing so less than three minutes into the half. Schnur's goal cut the deficit to just two at 9-7. What followed was a five-goal streak for the Diplomats to take a 14-7 lead. After a Rachel Delate free-position goal, the Diplomats continued their scoring run with three more tallies to push their lead to nine at 17-8.
 
In the fourth, Franklin & Marshall extended their lead to double digits at 19-9, but Messiah scored two goals in the final minute with tallies from Rachel Delate and Annalise Keitel to get to a final score of 19-11.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons move to 2-1 with the setback, but will be back in action next week when they head to Colorado for a two-game spring break trip against Colorado College on Mar. 6 and St. John Fisher on Mar. 8. Messiah will take on the Colorado College Tigers at 4:00 p.m. MT/6:00 p.m. ET on Monday, Mar. 6.