THE FACTS
No. 16 Messiah (2-0) 10, No. 5 Gettysburg (1-1) 6
What: Non-conference women's lacrosse game
When: Wednesday, February 22
Where: Grantham, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
Messiah used a four-goal advantage in the first half to upend the Bullets, holding them to just four goals in the final half to hand Gettysburg the 10-6 loss.
THE LEADERS
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Gabi Connor (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) led the Bullets with two goals.
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Jordan Basso (Rye, N.Y./Rye) added one goal and one assist.
FOR THE FOES
• Ehryn Groothoff tallied three goals for the Falcons.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Messiah opened the scoring within the first minute, as Emma Lytle found the back of the net to give the hosts the advantage. A shot by
Gabi Connor was saved, and Rachel Delate made it a two-goal lead for the Falcons less than three minutes later. Messiah goalie Mackenzie O'Haver put a stop to a
Caroline Sullivan (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) shot, and the Falcons' Emma Lytle dished to Jordan Lewicki for a free position goal with 4:15 on the clock. Hayley Lettinga found the back of the net for Messiah for the last time in the quarter, to bring the hosts' advantage to 4-0.
Emily Crane (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair) had one more shot on the period for the Bullets, but again O'Haver was there to make the stop.
•
Kelly O'Connor (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) finally converted for the Bullets within the first 90 seconds of the second quarter, and
Gillian Cortese (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) made a save off an Emma Lytle shot to hold the Falcons back momentarily. However, back-to-back goals from the Falcons made their lead 6-1 with 9:38 left in the half. In the final five minutes of play,
Jordan Basso dished to
Gabi Connor, and she put it past the Falcons' goalie to cut Messiah's advantage back to four going into the locker rooms.
• Three early Gettysburg shots in the third quarter were all saved, and Messiah used a man-up opportunity to score their seventh goal of the game, to lead by five. Less than two minutes later, Ehryn Groothoff converted again for the Falcons to give them an 8-2 advantage with 10:30 left in the quarter. Neither team could get a shot off for the next five minutes, as the ball was turned over several times.
Regan Rightmire (Dowingtown, Pa./Downingtown STEM Academy) finally broke through for the Bullets with 5:09 showing to cut the deficit to five.
Sophie Showers (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck) dished to
Gabi Connor in the final 30 seconds to make it an 8-4 game going into the final quarter of play.
• Hayley Lettinga scored her second for the Falcons off a free position shot to again bring the hosts to a five-goal lead just 90 seconds into the final quarter. Gettysburg registered two more shots over the next nine minutes, but couldn't find the net on either. With 4:37 left to play,
Dillon Troy (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck) registered her first career goal off a free position shot, and less than a minute and a half later, Sullivan got the ball to
Jordan Basso for her first of the season to draw the Bullets within three. Gettysburg couldn't complete the comeback, however, as the Falcons scored one more goal in the final two minutes to win, 10-6.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg finished with a 24-22 advantage in shots and a 28-21 advantage in ground balls.
•
Gillian Cortese made six saves in goal.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action against No. 19 Denison on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.
