Box Score
Grantham, PA — Saturday afternoon at Anderson Field, the hot play of the Messiah women's lacrosse team reached an all-time high.
Both literally and figuratively.
Messiah recorded its 10th straight win in an 18-6 MAC Conference victory over visiting Eastern University — the team's longest winning streak in the tenure of third-year head coach Heather Greer.
On-field temperatures surpassed 100 degrees as well, giving new meaning to the Falcons' sizzling play of late.
“It was unbelievably hot,” Greer said afterward. “I was really proud of how resilient we were today, and how well our girls played through the conditions.”
While the heat and humidity would have been excessive for mid-July, Messiah's senior day celebration went off without issue. Upperclassmen Nikki Lawrence and Emily Van Hook were honored in a brief ceremony before the game began, and it didn't take long for the hosts to assert their dominance.
A score from sophomore Meghan Doolittle ignited what would be a methodical separation from Eastern (8-9, 7-5), as Greer's club slowly pulled out to an 8-2 lead. Sophomore Rachel Dirksen made it a 2-0 game just five minutes in, while another goal from Dirksen and one from classmate Jaime Gerhart helped offset an early score from Eastern — making it a 4-1 Messiah lead with 19 minutes to play in the first half.
Another Eastern goal was answered by two more from Doolittle, and when junior Megan Bovenzi finished two shots in a row, Messiah looked to be cruising.
A late, 3-1 push from Eastern pulled the visitors to a 9-5 differential at the break, however, and things got reasonably close.
But then the second half started.
Messiah (13-9, 11-1) jumped on the Eagles to the tune of nine unanswered goals, hogging possession en route to another lopsided win. Freshman Cecilia Kjellman started the scoring just over a minute into the final period, while Dirksen, Doolittle, Bovenzi and sophomore Rachel Coyle all contributed to the onslaught.
When the smoke cleared, the Falcons had outshot the Eagles by a 17-6 difference in the second period, limiting the visitors to just eight of 18 successful clears on the day while forcing 18 of Eastern's 24 turnovers.
“This is the time of the year we want to be playing our best lacrosse, and today we were at our best in a lot of ways,” Greer said. “I also love that we are just having fun out there. We play this game because we love it and we make the necessary sacrifices because we love it, and so it is fun to see the team really enjoy playing together.”
Doolittle looked to be having an extreme amount of fun, scoring a career-high five times despite the oppressive conditions. Dirksen and Bovenzi each recorded four goals, while Dirksen led the way with eight ground balls.
Junior Andrea Thomas forced a team-leading four turnovers (along with Dirksen), while Messiah controlled 15 of the total 26 draw controls — Coyle finished with five, to go with a career-high three assists.
“Doo had an amazing game today,” Greer said. “She is always so instrumental in our attack but doesn't always put up a huge number of points. But today she was still that key part of our attack and also put up some big numbers. She was always at the right place at the right time.”
Messiah now takes its unprecedented winning streak into post-season play, where the team holds the number two seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament. The Falcons will receive a first-round bye as a result of being one of the league's top two teams, and will face one of a possible four teams Thursday: Sixth-seeded Eastern will travel to third-seeded FDU-Florham Tuesday night, as will fifth-seeded Lycoming College to fourth-seeded Widener University.
Messiah will face the highest remaining seed at Anderson Field Thursday at 4 p.m. The lowest remaining seed from Tuesday's games will travel to Elizabethtown College for the other MAC Semi-Final — also taking place at 4 p.m.
“We're looking forward to seeing who we play but whoever our opponent is, I know we will be ready,” Greer said.
