GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 17 Messiah Women's Lacrosse team hosted the Hornets of Shenandoah University on Wednesday afternoon. The Falcons jumped to an early 5-1 lead after the first quarter before extending their lead to 8-2 at the half. Messiah outscored the Hornets 8-2 in the second half to claim the 16-4 victory. Grace Pettitt led the Falcons with five goals and two assists. Hayley Lettinga and Jordan Lewicki each tallied three goals with Lettinga adding an assist. Annalise Keitel tallied four assists and added a goal. Hannah Gawne led all players with eight draw controls. Brynn Johnsen tallied four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Grace Hejeebu made 12 saves in goal for Messiah.

Messiah returns to the field on Saturday, March 28, when they travel to the University of Mary Washington for a 3:00 game.

First Quarter
The Hornets fired an early shot on goal that was saved by Grace Hejeebu before Shenandoah tallied the first goal of the game at 11:44. Grace Pettitt leveled the score 1-1 with a free position goal a minute later before Hannah Gawne earned the draw control that lead to a goal for Alina Bernal-Clark from Pettitt just 12 seconds later for a 2-1 Messiah lead. Hayley Lettinga had a shot on goal saved before securing she tallied a man-up goal from Annalise Keitel to take a 3-1 lead. After three and a half minutes of back and forth play between the Falcons and Hornets, Abby Welchans extended the lead to 4-1 with a man-up free position goal. Lettinga found Jordan Lewicki for a 5-1 lead with 3:53 remaining. Hannah Gawne and Hayley Lettinga each had shots on goal saved as the Falcons held the 5-1 lead into the second quarter.

Second Quarter
Messiah was quick to extend their lead in the second quarter with an unassisted goal from Hayley Lettinga less than a minute into the quarter. Annalise Keitel then found Lettinga at 12:40 for a 7-1 Messiah lead. The Hornets fired a shot on goal that was saved by Grace Hejeebu before Shenandoah found the back of the net about three minutes later. The Falcons fired a number of shots over the next four minutes before Annalise Keitel had a shot saved by the Hornets goalie. Grace Pettitt notched an unassisted goal with a minute remaining in the first half to hold an 8-2 lead heading into halftime.

Third Quarter
After the break, Grace Hejeebu tallied a save before Grace Pettitt fired a shot on goal that was saved by the Hornets' goalie. Shenandoah tallied a goal before Messiah tallied a quick pair from Grace Pettitt and Jordan Lewicki on an assist by Annalise Keitel to take a 10-3 lead. Hannah Gawne secured the draw control and notched an unassisted goal for an 11-3 lead. Three scoreless minutes that saw one save for Hejeebu was broken with a goal for Keitel at 6:23. Shenandoah called a timeout but were unable to convert on their offense, with the Falcons' defense keeping them unable to register a shot. Lettinga and Gawne each had shots on frame saved before Annalise Keitel found Jordan Lewicki to give Messiah the 10-goal lead at 13-3 with 2:46 to play in the third. Shenandoah scored on a late free position attempt to bring the score to 13-4 in favor of Messiah with one quarter to play.

Fourth Quarter
Alina Bernal-Clark found Grace Pettitt for a Falcons' goal just 30 seconds into the fourth to return the game to a running clock. Grace Hejeebu picked up a pair of saves over the next five minutes before Brynn Johnsen had a shot on frame saved by the Shenandoah goalie. Grace Hejeebu made a save on a free position shot before making a save on the secondary shot from the Hornets. Grace Pettitt scored an unassisted goal before she found Kayla Arnold for a last second goal to give the Falcons the 16-4 win.

Stats
Grace Pettitt led the Falcons with five goals and two assists. Hayley Lettinga and Jordan Lewicki each tallied three goals with Lettinga adding an assist. Annalise Keitel tallied four assists and added a goal. Hannah Gawne led all players with eight draw controls. Brynn Johnsen tallied four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Grace Hejeebu made 12 saves in goal for Messiah.

Up Next
Messiah returns to the field on Saturday, March 28, when they travel to the University of Mary Washington for a 3:00 game.