FREDERICK, Md. - The Messiah women's lacrosse team used a dominant effort to defeat the Hood College Blazers, 13-3 on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons jumped to an early 4-0 lead, but the Blazers answered back with two goal before the end of the first quarter. The Falcons then rattled off nine unanswered goals from the start of the second quarter to 8:44 remaining in fourth quarter to jump to a 13-2 lead.
 
The Blazers found the back of the cage midway through the fourth before both defenses shut down each other's offenses to give the Falcons a 13-3 win. With the win, Messiah starts the MAC Commonwealth schedule with a 1-0 record.
 
 Grace Pettitt led the Falcons with seven points on three goals and four assists. Annalise Keitel and Natalie Macri each totaled four points while Katie Bukiewicz and Hannah Gawne each added three points.
 
The Falcons will host the Eastern University Eagles on Wednesday, Apr. 10 at 5:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a goal from Natalie Macri, back-to-back tallies from Katie Bukiewicz, and a score from Hannah Gawne. That action all happened within the first half of the opening quarter, giving Messiah an early 4-0 lead.
 
Hood's Julia Gregory scored back-to-back goals just 1:21 apart and the Flacons held a 4-2 lead after 15 minutes of play.
 
The second quarter featured just one goal with Grace Pettitt scoring off an assist from Hannah Gawne to make it 5-2 at the break. Over the opening half, Messiah held a 17-5 edge in shots while putting 14 shots on frame against just four from the Blazers.
 
Coming out of the half, Messiah was dominate, scoring seven goals in the third quarter while holding the Blazers scoreless. The Falcons extended their lead with three goals from Grace Pettitt, a pair of tallies from Annalise Keitel, and a score from Hayley Lettinga. The busy quarter extended Messiah's lead to 10 goals at 12-2.
 
Grace Pettitt scored an unassisted goal to begin the fourth quarter, pushing Messiah's lead to 13-2. Hood then scored the final goal of the day with a free-position tally with 8:44 remaining in the fourth quarter. In the end, Messiah held on for the 13-3 victory.
 
What's Up Next
With the victory, Messiah claims their second-straight win to improve to 3-8 on the season. The Falcons also starts the conference slate with a victory to begin MAC Commonwealth play 1-0. Messiah will be back in action on Wednesday, Apr. 10 at 5:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.