SALAM, Va. – The Messiah women's lacrosse team dropped a 21-9 contest against the No. 16 Roanoke Maroons on Tuesday afternoon. A big first half for the Maroons gave Roanoke a 12-2 lead at the half and while Messiah put seven goals on the board in the second half, it was not enough.
 
Three Falcons finished the afternoon with three points each, leading the way. Hayley Lettinga scored three goals while Hannah Gawne and Grace Pettitt scored one goal each while assisting one other.
 
The Falcons will be back in action on Thursday when they take on the University of Lynchburg at 12:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Maroons opened the game with four-straight goals in the first seven minutes of play from four different goal scorers. Hannah Gawne stopped the early run with a free-position goal with 6:01 remaining in the opening quarter, but Roanoke put four more in the back of the cage in the first quarter to take an 8-1 lead after 15 minutes of play.
 
Roanoke scored the first four goals of the second quarter to build a 12-1 lead. Messiah capped off the scoring for the opening half with a free-position goal from Grace Pettitt with 3:18 remaining before the break.
 
Messiah opened the third quarter strong, scoring three of the first four goals in the second half. Katie Bukiewicz, Natalie Macri, and Hayley Lettinga all connected to pull Messiah within eight at 13-5 just over four minutes into the third.
 
The Maroons responded with four goals in a four-minute span to jump the lead back to double-digits at 17-5. The Falcons trimmed the lead back to 10 at 18-8 after a free-position goal from Hayley Lettinga early in the fourth, but Roanoke finished on top to claim the 21-9 victory.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Thursday when they take on the Lynchburg Hornets at noon.