Box Score
Grantham, PA — For the third time in the 13-year history of the Messiah women's lacrosse program, the Falcons will compete for a conference championship.
Messiah punched its latest ticket Thursday afternoon at Anderson Field, handing visiting Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham a 10-8 defeat, knocking off the Devils for the second time of the season. Following a 13-12 win at FDU-Florham on Mar. 28 that saw Messiah produce three goals in the final 3:48 of game clock, the Falcons used an explosive start to the second half and some stellar defense to capture Thursday's MAC Semi-Final decision.
The second seed in the league tournament, Messiah (13-4) will now meet up with top-seeded and 16th-ranked Elizabethtown College Saturday at noon for the 2009 MAC Championship.
“The team went to battle for one another today,” said second-year head coach Heather Greer. “There was no individual effort about this win. Our defense was on it and had some of the best second slides they have had all season. Toward the end, things got a little shaky, but we hung in there and pulled it out. It was definitely a team win.”
Greer's club arrived to Thursday's game via a first-round bye, while FDU-Florham (13-5) dispatched sixth-seeded Manhattanville College by a 21-6 score Tuesday afternoon.
Early on, it appeared that Thursday's contest would go down to the wire. The Falcons and Devils traded goals throughout the first half of play, leading to a 3-3 score with just under three minutes remaining. Freshman Meghan Doolittle scored a free position attempt with 2:20 to go and classmate Rachel Dirksen tacked on her lone score of the day with just 32 seconds left — putting Messiah in control by a 5-3 score.
FDU-Florham's Lindsey Parent made the most of a free position opportunity with just nine seconds on the clock, however, pulling the deficit to just 4-3 at the intermission.
It was at that point that Messiah put together a run worthy of a conference championship opportunity.
Greer's club stormed out of the halftime gates to score four times in the second period's first eight minutes, shocking the FDU-Florham side while putting momentum clearly in the hosts' favor. Sophomore Megan Bovenzi got things started less than two minute into play on a feed from Dirksen, while senior Jackie Dando ripped an unassisted blast into the back of the net just 19 seconds later. When Doolittle cut through the middle and redirected a brilliant feed from Dirksen off the carpet, Messiah had an 8-4 lead with 25:09 remaining. Another unassisted tally from Bovenzi followed at the 22:17 marker, and Messiah appeared to be running away with things.
FDU-Florham, however, was not finished.
The Devils utilized a frenetic pace to force Messiah into a season-high 27 turnovers, eventually recording 29 shots to the Falcons' 26.
After successfully clearing the ball in 10 of 11 first-half opportunities, Messiah struggled to just a six of 12 performance in the final 30 minutes — all while committing 17 of its giveaways.
Thankfully, senior Jen Venter chose to have a career day.
The Falcons' goalie finished with a season-high 15 saves, including a crucial 10 in the second half when FDU-Florham was furiously attempting to make a comeback.
Instead, a pair of two-goal runs was not enough. Messiah scored its final goal with 13:17 remaining, allowing the Devils to score at the 4:18 mark and 45 second moment to walk away with a decision slightly less dramatic than the final score would indicate.
“Jen had a phenomenal game today,” Greer said. “She was so mentally prepared for today because she wanted to shut down (FDU-Florham attack and 2008 MAC Player of the Year Amanda Wayne) after she scored five goals the first time we played them. So today Jen stepped it up big and with the help of defense, held Wayne to only one goal.”
Venter received support from classmates Betsy Tyson (two ground balls, two caused turnovers) and Brianne Brennan (three ground balls, three caused turnovers), while sophomore defender Elizabeth Graham finished with three ground balls as well. Offensively, Messiah was paced by Doolittle's career-high four goals. Dirksen finished with three of Messiah's five assists.
“Betsy is such a quiet defender,” Greer said. “She brings such consistency to our low defense and produced many of our caused turnovers today. She has an incredible work ethic and just plays some of the cleanest defense, hardly ever fouling, and makes it possible for defense to come up with the ball time and time again.”
Messiah now advances to Saturday's MAC Championship to face arch-rival E'Town — the only league school to beat the Falcons this season. It will be the program's third trip to a conference championship game in the last five years. Messiah defeated Lycoming College by a 12-7 score in the 2006 title game to win the program's only league championship to date.
“After the game, Megan Bovenzi told me that 'we just keep getting closer and closer as a team.' I love that,” Greer said. “I love to see them playing for each other and I enjoy that as their coach. These girls truly like each other. They are not just teammates but they have a friendship with one another which I think helps them pull through in tight games like today's. Saturday will be very tough, but we're excited and grateful for the opportunity. We are ready.”
Messiah will travel to Elizabethtown's Wolf Field to play for the 2009 MAC Championship Saturday. Game time is set for 12 p.m.
