Box Score
Grantham, PA — As the Messiah College women's lacrosse team faced its fourth ranked opponent of the season in only its fifth game, first-year head coach Heather Greer could not bare to watch the final 12 seconds of Wednesday night's match-up with 20th-rated Dickinson College.
After leading the Red Devils by a 14-8 score with just over 17 minutes to play, Messiah hung on to a 14-13 lead following five straight goals from Dickinson in the final 16 minutes of the contest.
Now, with 12 seconds to play, the visitors were rewarded a free position shot.
Greer could not stand it.
"If they would have scored," Greer trailed off.
"Overtime would not have been a good thing, considering the momentum they had generated."
Fortunately for Greer and company, no such worries were needed. Junior goalie Jen Venter recorded her 11th save of the afternoon on the play, holding the ball in the crease for the final nine seconds of the contest.
Messiah had knocked off Dickinson by a 14-13 score at Anderson Field.
"It was an absolutely huge save," Greer said of Venter's last-second thwart. "I am ridiculously proud of our defense, as our girls really played well tonight. Overall, it was a great game for us as a team."
Messiah (2-3) recorded the win thanks to an offensive explosion in the meat of the first half, as after falling behind by a 2-1 count Greer's team rattled off eight unanswered scores. Freshman sensation Kara Geiman accounted for three of the tallies, while classmate Megan Bovenzi notched a pair.
Senior Bethany Moskevitz scored Messiah's first goal just three minutes into play, while adding another during the Falcons' 8-0 push — a run that chewed up nearly 17 minutes of game clock.
Following a late first-half goal from Dickinson, Greer's team exited the field at halftime with a 9-3 advantage, equaling its largest lead over an opponent on the season.
"I thought we really adjusted well during the entire game," Greer said. "We were aware of what Dickinson was trying to do and we adapted."
Messiah kept its distance for the majority of the second half, trading scores with the Red Devils until the visitors punched in two consecutive goals near the 25-minute mark. The Falcons responded with a pair of goals, however, as junior Jackie Dando notched an unassisted score while classmate Brianne Brennan tallied a free position shot goal.
It was among a multitude of highlights for Brennan, as the defender scooped up five ground balls while forcing a game-high six turnovers.
"Bri had such a great game," Greer said. "She is a solid, low defender that worked extremely hard for us in the midfield. She even got goal hungry enough to score a free position shot."
Following another pair of traded goals with just under 20 minutes to play — Messiah led 13-6 at that point — the Falcons began to slow the game down. Geiman became the center of attention with the ball, eventually scoring her fifth tally of the game with just over 17 minutes to play. Dickinson had tacked on two more scores by that point, and Messiah still led comfortably (14-8).
It was then that Dickinson showed proof of its ranking.
Five straight scores over the game's final 17 minutes eventually set up Venter's heroics, while it was a free position shot from the Red Devils that began the team's late-game surge.
Venter finished with 11 total saves on the day, including four important stave offs in the second half to secure the win.
"Dickinson did not give up and played very well late," Greer said. "One of our constant challenges is that we want to finish strong. Dickinson is a very good team. We were fairly smart with the ball, but we do need to finish better if we want to continue to beat top quality teams."
Dando added three goals in the win for Messiah, while Bovenzi and Moskevitz each added two. Senior Kirstyn Wheeler joined Brennan with five ground balls recovered. Geiman, Bovenzi and sophomore Betsy Caprio all claimed three.
"I think that our girls are getting better," Greer said. "Every game I see us playing more as a unit, and our focus continues to improve. This win was huge in a sense that it gives us some perspective on what we can do now. We have to take that to another level. Our confidence should improve, and our early schedule should prepare us well for conference play."
Messiah will travel to Susquehanna University Saturday before opening league play next week. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
