The University of Mary Washington women's soccer team fought valiantly but dropped a 2-1 decision to 11th-ranked Messiah College on Wednesday at the Battleground. The Eagles fall to 2-3 on the season.

Messiah jumped ahead with a pair of quick scores, as Emily Schneider scored on an Ali Rogers assist at 16:24, and less than a minute later, at 17:19, Macauley Soto scored on a Nikki Elsaesser pass to take a 2-0 lead.

The Eagles struck back at 25:08, as Lizzie Weast scored on an Excy Herrera assist. Herrera corraled a loose ball and sent the ball forward to Weast in the box, and her shot found the far side nets to cut the deficit to 2-1. Neither team could score in the second half on a day that saw kickoff temperature at 94 degrees.

Messiah led in shots, 20-5, and in corner kicks, 9-0. Alyssa Goodwin had three saves in goal for UMW, while Audra Larson had three for the Falcons.

The Eagles will be back in action on Sunday when they host Methodist University at 3:00 p.m.