YORK, Pa. - The No. 6 York College women's lacrosse saw its record-setting start come to close as No. 20 Messiah upset the Spartans, 14-8, Wednesday evening at Kinsley Field.

Team records

#20/12 Messiah 10-0 (5-0 MAC)

#6/6 York 6-1 (3-1 MAC)

How it happened

Messiah came out strong, scoring two goals in the first 11 minutes, which eventually grew into a 4-0 run by the Falcons. With the Spartan offense struggling, the only thing that prevented an early blowout was the 10-save performance by Riley DiFiore in the first half as she single-handedly kept the Spartans in it.

York did come to the aid of its hot goaltender with a pair of tallies in the final two minutes of the first half to cut the deficit to 4-2. The two late goals appeared to be the momentum shift York desperately needed as they finished the first half with 14 turnovers and on the lesser end of a 12-8 ground ball margin.

The Spartans gained traction in the early stages of the second half as Kiersten Blanchard, Jenna Cholowinski and Madison Marciniak all scored on free-position shots in the first three minutes to tie the score, 5-5. Unfortunately, that would prove to be the high water mark for York as Messiah took the lead on the ensuing possession, which sparked a six-goal run to give the Falcons an 11-5 lead with 17:24 left to play.

York still had hopes of a comeback when Riley Roder found the back of the net to make it a five-goal game with 15:24 left, but a pair of turnovers shortly after led directly to goals by Messiah as the Falcon lead stretched to seven. Turnovers continued to plague the Spartans down the stretch as they committed seven in the last 11 minutes with just two goals as the comeback bid faded away.

Up next

The Spartans will look to rebound with a trip to Lebanon Valley on Saturday for a MAC Commonwealth matchup which is slated to start at 1 p.m.

Notes

One game after setting the program's record for best start to a season at 6-0, York saw that run and its nine-game win streak (dating back to last season) come to a close ... The Spartans are now 6-6 against Messiah in the all-time series as the visiting team has won the last four regular season meetings … Riley DiFiore established a new career-high with 18 saves on the day as she held the Falcons to their lowest goal total of the season on their fourth-highest shot total of the season … Jenna Cholowinski finished with seven draw controls for the second time this season; she has had seven or draw controls three times on the season, while also recording multiple points in each of those games.