Grantham, Pa. (Apr. 22, 2015) - Messiah College (11-4, 7-0) defeated Alvernia University (6-8, 2-5) by a 20-8 final Tuesday afternoon in Commonwealth Conference women's lacrosse action at Messiah.

The Falcons put up 14 goals in the first half en route to the win.

The Crusaders scored the opening goal of the game within the first minute as Abby McCarthy netted her first goal of the day. Messiah then answered with eight unanswered goals for the 8-1 advantage.

McCarthy interrupted the Falcon run, pairing with Brooke Campione for back-to-back goals to cut the margin 8-3.

Messiah would add another short run, putting in three to extend its lead 11-3. The two teams would then exchange goals as Jacquelyn Strange notched her 29th of the season on the feed from McCarthy, uping the score 12-4.

The Crusaders would shorten the deficit one more time before the half as the McCarthy-Campione duo struck again, bringing the score to 12-6. However, Messiah would respond with two of its own to take the 14-6 lead at the half.

Alvernia would collect two more goals in the second half, both off the stick of Strange.

Colleen Reilly and Kallie Taylor split time in the net for the Crusaders. Reilly recorded seven saves in 45 minutes of work, while Taylor has one in 15 minutes of action.

Alvernia return to play on Saturday, hosting Lycoming in Commonwealth Conference action. Saturday's game will serve as senior day for the Crusaders, marking their last home and regular season game of the season.