GRANTHAM, Pa. – A slow start doomed the Albright women's lacrosse team as they were defeated 16-6 at Messiah in the MAC Commonwealth opener on Wednesday.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 2-7 overall and open up conference action 0-1. Meanwhile, the Falcons improve to 6-3 overall and begin MAC Commonwealth play 1-0.
 
Senior Lauren China led the Lions with four goals on six shots. Sophomore Kyra Lycett dominated in the draw circle with a career-high 11 draw controls.
 
Messiah dominated in the opening minutes of action, scoring on their first five shots to take an early lead. The Falcons added three more unanswered goals to their run to claim a commanding 8-0 lead with 1:33 left in the first. China finally snapped the run and got the Lions on the board behind a free position goal at the 1:08-mark. Messiah capped off the quarter with one more score to hold a 9-1 at the end of the first.
 
The Falcons continued to control the pace throughout the second stanza, tallying three unanswered goals and extending their lead to 12-1 entering the break.
 
Albright began to find their footing coming out of the half as China notched her second goal of the game at the 11:59-mark to spark a three-goal run for the Lions. The two teams battled back and forth, but senior Ashleigh Tortorice found the back of the net off a free-position shot with 2:17 left in the third. Junior Chloe Fornoff closed out the quarter scoring with just 35 seconds remaining to cut the Lions deficit to 12-8.
 
Messiah regained a double-digit goal advantage with back-to-back scores to open the final stanza. China responded at the 11:24-mark with her third unassisted goal of the game. The Falcons capped off their scoring with two more goals to take a 16-5 advantage with less than four minutes remaining. China found the back of the net once more for the Lions at the 2:20-mark, but Messiah ultimately captured the 16-6 MAC Commonwealth victory.
 
Messiah held a sizable 34-16 shot advantage over Albright and won the battle for ground balls 25-15. Draw controls were split with 13 apiece. First-year goalkeeper Caelainn Morrison receives the loss for the Lions despite making seven saves in 45 minutes of action. Mackenzie O'Haver earns the win for the Falcons with just two saves in 30 minutes of action.
 
Albright will return to action on Saturday at 12 p.m. as they travel to Lebanon Valley to continue MAC Commonwealth action.