LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Messiah women's lacrosse team earned their first victory of the 2024 season on Thursday afternoon, running away from the Lynchburg Hornets by a 20-7 final score. The Falcons took a commanding 13-2 lead at the half and cruised to the 13-goal victory. Hayley Lettinga led the Falcons offense with seven points on the afternoon, scoring five goals and adding two assists. Katie Bukiewicz added five goals as well, tying Lettinga for a game-high.
 
The Falcons outshot the Hornets 31-15 in the contest as they improved to 1-6 on the season.
 
Messiah will be back in action on Saturday, Mar. 23 when they travel to Mary Washington to take on the Eagles at 1:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
Messiah's Grace Pettitt got the scoring going just over a minute into the game off an assist from Alina Bernal-Clark. The Hornets responded with a goal a minute later to level the game at 1-1 with 12:43 remaining in the first quarter.
 
After the even start, the rest was half belonged to the Falcons. Messiah used an 11-0 run across a 20-minute stretch in the middle of the first half to build a 12-1 lead. During the run, Lettinga and Bukiewicz each netted four goals while Avery Ball scored twice and Annalise Keitel tallied once.
 
Lynchburg broke Messiah's streak with just under four minutes remaining in the half, but Natalie Macri scored with 25 seconds left in the quarter to take a 13-2 advantage into the break.
 
Alina Bernal-Clark and Bukiewicz started the third quarter with goals, bumping the Falcons' lead to 15-2, but the Hornets scored a pair of free-position goals late in the quarter.
 
Messiah took a 15-4 lead heading to the fourth and scored five times with Natalie Macri and Hannah Gawne each scoring twice in the final 15 minutes and Lettinga netting her fifth and final tally of the day. Lynchburg found the back of the cage three-straight times in the middle of the period, but Messiah's first-half lead proved to be too much as the Falcons earned the 20-7 victory.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will have an extended break from game action, but will be back in action on Mar. 23 when they head to Mary Washington for a non-conference game beginning at 1:00 p.m.