READING, Pa. – In an absolute thriller, the Albright Lions women's lacrosse team earned a 12-11 victory over Messiah in MAC Commonwealth play on Saturday afternoon at Shirk Stadium.
 
With the win, the Lions extend their program-record winning streak to nine games as they improve to 10-2 along with a 4-0 record in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Falcons fall to 2-10 overall and 2-1 in MAC Commonwealth play. This was the Lions first win over Messiah in program history, and the first MAC Commonwealth regular season loss for the Falcons since April 2014.
 
After the opening four minutes went scoreless, junior Kelly Baumann began the scoring at the 25:49-mark with an unassisted goal to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. Baumann then played a role in the Lions second goal of the game as she found freshman Ashleigh Tortorice cutting inside to make it 2-0 at the 22:14-mark. Freshman Abbie Moist would counter Messiah's first goal of the game at the 14:25-mark with an unassisted rip to make it 3-1. Freshman Lauren China then followed 29 seconds later to extend the Lions lead to 4-1 after a won draw control. Messiah would answer with back-to-back free position shot goals to make it a 4-3 game at the 12:04-mark of the first half, but senior Sophie Bass struck under a minute later on a free position shot of her own to put the Lions back up 5-3. The Falcons then closed the half out with four unanswered goals to take a 7-5 lead into halftime. Messiah won three of the next four draw controls following Bass's goal to help gain the lead, while holding the Lions to just two shots in the final 10 minutes.
 
Much like the first half, the opening couple of minutes went scoreless before China tallied her second goal in a man-down situation to cut the lead down to 7-6. Messiah would go back up 8-6 at the 21:01-mark, but the Lions countered again with a free position shot goal from freshman Taylor Filmer. Bass answered another Messiah goal on a free position shot to bring the score to 9-8 at the 17:04-mark of the second half. Freshman Maddie Taylor and Bass would add back-to-back free position shots following a Falcons goal to tie the game at 10 at the 12:41-mark of the second half. The game remained tied for the next six minutes before China gave the Lions the lead for the first time since the first half at the 6:07-mark of the second half. Messiah quickly tied the game after winning the following draw control, and gained possession after Bass was stopped on a free position shot. Sophomore goalkeeper Terae Masson then made a back-to-back saves to keep the game tied, and give the Lions a chance to take the lead. Baumann took that opportunity and ran with it as she scored with 1:38 left in regulation to make it 12-11. The Falcons snatched the next draw control, but it was Baumann with the heroics again as she knocked the ball out of McKenna Edwards stick to give possession back for the Lions. With the game clock and shot clock synced together, the Lions were able to hold onto the ball and run the last minute without giving Messiah the ball back.
 
Messiah held a 26-25 shot advantage for the game, but the Lions outshot the Falcons 15-7 in the second half. The Falcons also held a slight 20-18 advantage in shots on goal, while the Lions held a 14-13 advantage in ground balls and a 13-12 advantage in draw controls. Bass and Baumann each led the Lions with four points, while China scored three goals. Baumann also tallied four caused turnovers, and four different Lion players each tallied a goal. Mason earned the win after making nine saves in the full 60 minutes, while Falcons goalkeeper Amber Orner suffered the tough loss after making six saves in the full 60 minutes.
 
The Lions will return to action on Wednesday, April 10^th when they will travel to face Widener at 7 p.m. in MAC Commonwealth play.