GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Junior Liza Barr (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) tied the program record with seven assists and totaled a career-high nine points to lead top-ranked Gettysburg College past No. 16 Messiah College 17-7 in the season opener at Clark Field on Thursday.
 
Gettysburg (1-0) won its 19th consecutive season opener and improved to 16-0 all-time against Messiah (0-2). The defending national champs out-shot the Falcons 35-22 and won the battle in the draw circle 17-9.
 
Six players recorded multiple goals for the Orange and Blue. Barr bested her personal-best point total by four with two goals to go along with her record assist total. She tied the program record first set by Amanda Corroon '86 in 1986 and equaled three times by Julika Blankenship '04 from 2003 to 2004. Barr's point total was the best by a Bullet since Lindsey Robinson '13 posted 10 against the University of Lynchburg in 2013.
 
Junior Courtney Patterson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) and sophomore Kerry McKeever (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) each posted four goals and an assist. Sophomore Bri Stokes (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) tallied a hat trick with all three goals coming off feeds from Barr. Senior Lauren Cole (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) tallied two goals and two assists and sophomore Maddy Ruffini (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) turned in a pair of goals.
 
Senior Steph Colson (Westminster, Md./Manchester Valley) picked up right where she left off the 2018 campaign by corralling 10 draw controls. She also recorded two ground balls, two caused turnovers, and an assist. Senior Brooke Holechek (Reisterstown, Md./Notre Dame Prep) and junior Ella Orzechowski (Elkridge, Md./Howard) each posted a pair of caused turnovers. Senior Bailey Pilder (Rowayton, Conn./New Canaan) made eight stops in goal.
 
Abby Howard and Annika Johnsen each tallied a pair of goals, while Amber Orner made nine saves.
 
Messiah struck first in Thursday's game, capitalizing on Gettysburg's only failed clear with a goal by Johnsen just over two minutes in. The Bullets wasted no time answering the call as Barr set up Cole 29 seconds later for the first goal of 2019.
 
Barr had a hand in four of her team's first five goals, with her second tally of the game making it 5-1 with 21:38 left in the first half. The Falcons and Bullets split the next six goals before a 4-0 run by the hosts, including two tallies by Stokes, made it 12-4.
 
Gettysburg solidified its lead with the first three goals of the final stanza by Ruffini, McKeever, and Patterson. Barr wrapped up the day with a slick feed to McKeever on a fastbreak to set the final margin with 4:46 to play.
 
The Bullets hit the road for a non-conference contest at Stevenson University Saturday at 1 p.m.