GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah women's lacrosse team started fast on Wednesday night, scoring three of the first four goals against the No. 6 Franklin and Marshall Diplomats. Despite the quick start, the Diplomats were able to control the bulk of the game en route to the 18-7 victory.
Hannah Gawne and
Hayley Lettinga led the Falcons offensive effort with a pair of goals each.
Grace Pettitt,
Katie Bukiewicz, and
Natalie Macri also added tallies for the Falcons in the rainy loss.
The Falcons will be back in action on Tuesday, Mar. 12 when they travel to Salem, Va. to take on the Roanoke Maroons at 4:00 p.m.
How It Happened
The Diplomats got on the board just over a minute into the contest, off a goal from Lauren Pittman. The Falcons responded with tallies from
Katie Bukiewicz,
Hayley Lettinga, and
Hannah Gawne in a 90-second span. Bukiewicz started the quick run off an assist from
Annalise Keitel. Shortly after Bukiewicz's tally, free-position goals from
Hayley Lettinga and
Hannah Gawne followed to give Messiah a 3-1 lead just 3:27 into the quarter.
The Diplomats scored the next seven goals to build an 8-3 lead late in the opening quarter.
Hannah Gawne netted a free-position goal with less than a minute remaining in the period to break the Diplomats run, but Franklin and Marshall scored the final goal of the period in the final seconds to take a 9-4 lead after 15 minutes of play.
The second period belonged to the Diplomats with Franklin and Marshall outscoring Messiah 5-0 in the period to take a 14-4 lead into the half.
The Diplomats led by double-digits the rest of the way with Lydia Cassilly and Lauren Pittman leading the offensive effort with five goals each. Messiah did net a trio of goals after the half with
Grace Pettitt,
Hayley Lettinga, and
Natalie Macri finding the twine.
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Salem, Va. for a non-conference game against the Roanoke Maroons at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday's meeting will be the first-ever game between Messiah and Roanoke in women's lacrosse.