Box Score
Elizabethtown, PA — If the Messiah College women's lacrosse team could turn back the hands of time, it would probably request a "re-do" for about 16 minutes worth of Wednesday's MAC Tournament Semi-Final at Elizabethtown College.
That's about how long it took the host Blue Jays to turn a 2-1 lead into an 8-1 advantage during the first half, going on a 6-0 run from the period's 25:32 mark until 9:26 remained. Messiah (10-7) was able to pull within an 8-3 score at halftime, but the damage had been done: E'Town stayed one step ahead of the Falcons during the second half, eventually pulling away by a 15-9 score.
The loss signaled the end of the 2008 season for Messiah, as first-year head coach Heather Greer said goodbye and thanks to her four seniors in Bethany Moskevitz, Kate Nesterwitz, Jessica Van Hook and Kirstyn Wheeler afterward.
"(Elizabethtown head coach) Mike Faith told me that our seniors should be really proud of their careers," Greer said. "He's seen them play longer than I have, and he said that they've each had a phenomenal four years at Messiah."
She paused.
"It would've been nice to have kept this season going a while longer."
It was clear that was what Greer's squad had set out to do, as the team had rattled off three straight wins since a 7-14 loss at E'Town on Apr. 17, scoring 17 goals in every game of that streak. After Elizabethtown (11-4) scored two quick goals in the opening minute and a half of Wednesday's contest, VanHook responded with a score at the 26:44 mark, coming off an assist from Moskevitz.
The Blue Jays then made their most dominant run of the game, scoring six straight goals over the contest's next 16 minutes. Half of the scores were unassisted, while Messiah committed 15 first-half turnovers and was out-shot by a 19-11 count in the first 30 minutes of play.
"We knew exactly what E'Town was going to do, we knew their game plan and they didn't pull out anything new," Greer said. "That's what made it frustrating not to be able to stop them. They have a great clear and they run their two middie lines really well, which was hard for us to keep up with. They forced us to play a faster game than what we are used to playing."
Junior Jackie Dando ended the Blue Jays' surge with an unassisted goal at the 8:43 mark in the first half, while freshman — and MAC Conference Rookie of the Year — Kara Geiman added another score at the 5:17 mark.
Neither team could add to its first-half total after that, as E'Town finished with a 12-15 tally in first-half clears.
"They face-guarded Kara and tried to shut her out of our offensive equation," Greer said. "We had some chemistry on offense in the second half, and that was really sparked by (freshman) Megan Bovenzi and Jackie Dando. We started to close the gap, but it just wasn't enough to overcome the lead that they had."
Following an Elizabethtown score just 42 seconds into the second half, VanHook and Dando tacked on points at the 27:51 and 25:29 marks. E'Town added another singular score with 23:50 left to play, but Bovenzi and sophomore Nikki Lawrence responded with back-to-back goals, pulling Messiah within a 10-7 difference.
Sadly, that was as close as Greer's team would get. E'Town scored again with 21:57 to play while a converted free position shot — one of three on the day — pulled E'Town to a 12-7 lead. Geiman and Bovenzi scored in just a 12-second window with 17 minutes to play, but E'Town finished with a 3-0 run to ice the outcome.
Bovenzi, Dando, VanHook and Geiman each scored two goals in the loss, while junior goalie Jenn Venter corralled 12 saves. Wheeler caused four turnovers in her final game in uniform, scooping a team-leading seven ground balls as well.
"We played hard through the finish which makes me proud of this team," Greer said. "Even though we wish the outcome was different, I am extremely proud of this team for starting strong and finishing stronger."
