GRANTHAM, Pa. – Taking on a short-handed Eastern squad, the Messiah women's lacrosse team imposed their will in a runaway, 17-1 victory over the Eagles. The Falcons controlled play from the start, scoring eight goals in the opening quarter and seeing seven different players score goals. A total of nine Falcons scored points with Hayley Lettinga, Hannah Gawne, and Grace Pettitt leading the team with five points each.
 
The Falcons outshot the Eagles 25-3 on Wednesday afternoon.
 
With the victory, Messiah improves to 2-0 in the conference and will be back in action on Saturday when they host the Albright Lions at 1:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons took advantage of a short-sided Eastern team and scored two goals in the opening minute off of shots from Hannah Gawne. Messiah never looked back with the first 17 goals in the contest. Eastern got on the board late with a score in the final minutes, but it was Messiah's day from start to finish.
 
Messiah took an 8-0 lead at the end of the first quarter with Hannah Gawne and Hayley Lettinga both scoring three goals in the opening quarter. Natalie Macri and Grace Pettitt also found the back of the cage in the first 15 minutes.
 
Four more goals in the second gave the Falcons a 12-0 lead at the half and got the game clock running. Grace Pettitt connected twice in the second quarter while Katie Bukiewicz and Kendall Bayley each scored once. For Bayley it was the first goal of her career and came off an assist from Gawne.
 
Messiah opened the second half with five-straight goals to take a 17-0 lead early in the fourth quarter. Eastern scored a late goal to make it a 17-1 final score.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday when they host the Albright Lions at 1:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.