READING, Pa. – Senior goalkeeper Terae Mason set a single-game program record for saves as the Albright women's lacrosse team suffered a 19-6 loss to Messiah on Wednesday afternoon in their MAC Commonwealth opener at Shirk Stadium.
 
With the loss, the Lions drop to 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in conference play. Meanwhile, the nationally-ranked Falcons improve to 3-0 on the season overall and 1-0 in conference play.
 
Messiah wasted little time getting on the board as they took a 1-0 lead on its first possession off a free position shot at the 29:19-mark.  The Lions opened the game with three-straight turnovers and two failed clears, but Mason was able to keep the Falcons at bay in that stretch with four saves. The Falcons finally broke through again at the 26:18-mark of the first half following a pair of free possession shot attempts. Messiah added to its lead with four goals in the span of 1:58 to take a 6-0 advantage at the 22:35-mark of the first half. The Falcons tallied two more goals to go up 8-0 at the 16:52-mark before junior Ashleigh Tortorice ended the run with a backhander off a pass from classmate Abbie Moist. Tortorice struck again unassisted following a Falcons goal to make it a 9-2 contest with 8:08 left in the first half. Messiah added one last goal at the 6:53-mark of the first half, and took a 10-2 lead into halftime.
 
The Falcons quickly added three goals in the first 2:57 of the second half to go up 13-2. Turnovers continued to plague the Lions as Messiah added three more goals in a span of 4:18 to take a commanding 16-2 advantage. Junior Taylor Filmer ended the run at the 15:23-mark with her first goal of the contest to make it a 16-3 game. Junior Lauren China followed with back-to-back goals to cut the deficit down to 16-5 with 7:53 left in regulation. Messiah responded with three-straight goals of its own to go back up 19-5 with just over two minutes left in the second half. Tortorice completed a hat trick with 10 seconds left in regulation to bring the final score to 19-6.
 
Messiah held a sizable 41-14 shot advantage for the game with a 35-12 edge in shots on goal. The Falcons held advantages in ground balls at 22-15, draw controls at 18-7, and forced 23 Lion turnovers. Mason reset her own single-game saves record with 16 in the full 60 minutes of action. Falcon starting goalkeeper Mackenzie O'Haver earned the win after making just four saves while playing only the first half. Heather Burnham relieved her and made two saves in the final 30 minutes of the contest. Tortorice paced the way for the Lions offense with three goals, and was followed with China with two goals. Sophomore Chloe Fornoff and Moist added assists, while junior defender Nicole Blair caused four turnovers.
 
Rachel Delate led the Falcons with eight points on four goals and four assists, while Amanda Wadsworth recorded a game-high five goals along with two assists.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, March 20^th as they will travel to face Eastern at 12 p.m.