GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 15 Messiah women's lacrosse team opened the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon, dropping a tight contest to the Scranton Royals by a 10-9 final score. Grace Pettitt started things for the Falcons, scoring Messiah's first two goals of the season. The Falcons would trail 4-3 at the break. Scranton would grow their lead to as many as four goals at 9-5 late in the third quarter. Annalise Keitel, would score the final goal of the third quarter and Messiah would trail 9-6 heading to the fourth. The first seven minutes of the fourth quarter were scoreless, but Scranton pushed their lead back to four goals at 10-6.
 
Messiah would not go down quietly with Pettitt scoring her third goal of the afternoon with 7:02 left in regulation. Falcons would scored two more to bring it as close as one at 10-9 with 2:43 remaining. The Royals' defense will hold up with a late save sealing the game. Keitel and Pettitt would both record hat tricks in the loss.
 
Falcons are back in action when they travel to Gettysburg to take on the No. 2 Bullets on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 4:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
Scranton started the game with the first goal of the contest, just over four minutes into the match. After Emma Hagg snagged the ensuing draw control, Grace Pettitt rolled around the left side of the crease and beat the goalie for the first goal of her career and the first tally of the 2024 season for the Falcons. Scranton took the lead right back with a score from Grace Lane and the game stood at 2-1 for the next eight minutes.
 
Late in the opening quarter, Katie Bukiewicz found Pettitt for her second score of the first quarter, leveling the game at 2-2 after 15 minutes of play.
 
In the second quarter, Messiah took their first lead of the year off a free position goal from Annalise Keitel, five minutes into the period. The Royals scored the only other two goals of the period to take a 4-3 lead into the break.
 
After halftime a snowsquall hit Grantham, creating blizzard-like conditions through the early portion of the third quarter. Between the snowflakes, Hayley Lettinga found the back of the cage to level the game at 4-4 just over two minutes into the second half.
 
Three-straight Scranton goals in a four-minute span forced a Messiah timeout with the Royals leading 7-4.
 
After the timeout, Hannah Gawne found Alina Bernal-Clark for Messiah's fifth goal of the afternoon, cutting the deficit to two at 7-5. Scranton scored back-to-back free position goals, before Annalise Keitel closed the quarter with her second tally of the game. As the game headed to the fourth quarter, Messiah trailed 9-6.
 
The fourth quarter started slow, with neither team finding the back of the cage for the first seven minutes of the period. Scranton bumped their lead to four at 10-6 with a goal from Grace Lane with exactly eight minutes remaining in the game. Messiah pushed hard to make it a game late. Pettitt, Lettinga, and Keitel all scored in a five-minute period to pull the Falcons within on at 10-9.
 
After Rachael Lee forced a Scranton turnover with just over two minutes remaining, the Falcons had a golden chance to tie the game. Hannah Gawne attempted a shot with 1:21 remaining that required a save from Scranton's Lauren Boldis to keep the Royals out in front. Scranton held possession until the final three seconds, but Messiah was unable to generate a chance before the clock expired.
 
In the end, the Falcons comeback attempt fell just short as the Royals won, 10-9.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons face a tough test on Wednesday, Feb. 21 when they travel to Gettysburg to take on the No. 2-ranked Bullets at 4:00 p.m. A year ago, Messiah defeated Gettysburg for the first time in program history, winning 10-6. Since that win, Gettysburg advanced to the National Championship Game, finishing as the National Runner-Up for the 2023 season.