Box Score
Grantham, PA — Heartbroken was the word of choice for Messiah head coach Heather Greer.
Few could blame her.
After rattling off a program-record 10 consecutive wins, second seeded Messiah was ousted from the MAC Tournament Thursday afternoon, falling by an 11-8 score to third-seed FDU-Florham at Anderson Field.
The Falcons got behind by a 5-1 count early and trailed 7-3 at halftime, eventually staring at an 11-4 deficit before scoring the game's final four goals over the final 10 minutes of play.
It was too little, too late, however, and Messiah's season was all but concluded in the loss.
“I really am heartbroken,” Greer repeated Thursday night. “We felt we were ready for this game, and I think we had a collective confidence heading into this game. But we did not play well today. That's what is so disappointing. We did not play anywhere near our best lacrosse.”
That lack of crispness was evident from the game's outset, as FDU-Florham (14-5) knocked in the first two scores, taking eight of the game's first 10 shots. Freshman Cecilia Kjellman got the Falcons on the board off a free position shot with 17:44 to play in the first half, but FDU responded with three straight goals — the first coming just 11 seconds after Kjellman's tally.
The result was a 5-1 deficit less than 20 minutes into the game, but Messiah (13-4) had been here before: The squad got down 4-0 to Alvernia University before claiming a 22-8 win over the Crusaders a week and a half back, and actually trailed FDU by a 5-3 score in the team's regular-season match-up — an eventual 12-9 win for the Falcons.
On a gorgeous Thursday afternoon, a pair of scores from junior Megan Bovenzi looked to provide such a spark.
The junior knocked in a free position shot with 8:39 to play in the first half then finished a feed from classmate Andrea Thomas just 23 seconds later, pulling the hosts within a 5-3 score.
FDU's Kristen Schuster scored an unassisted marker with 4:46 to go in the first half, however, and when the Devils' Lindsay Parent scored a falling-down goal just 33 seconds before the intermission, Messiah was looking at its largest halftime deficit of the season.
“We wanted to get everyone a touch early, and we did, but we never got our attack working together,” Greer said. “FDU has a great settle defense. We weren't good in transition, and that put a lot of pressure on us. We just didn't work well enough together, at any point, really.”
The biggest blow to Messiah's cause came early in the second half, but it wasn't another FDU score. Sophomore midfielder Rachel Coyle was whistled for her second yellow card just two and a half minutes in, depriving the Falcons one of their most intense competitors for the remainder of the game.
“RC's cards were both tough,” Greer said. “To lose her for the game, though, that hurt us in every way. She provides that spark for us. She competes so hard on draws, in the midfield, on defense ... we are just a different team without her on the field.”
Sadly for Messiah, it showed. FDU quickly took advantage of Coyle's absence, scoring goals at the 27:23 and 21:27 marks to make it a 9-3 affair — slowly beginning to pull away from a Falcons team that had outscored their opponents by a 265-127 count coming into the afternoon.
Kjellman pulled things to a 9-3 difference with a goal at the 14:37 mark, but the Devils came back with two more scores at the 11:26 and 11:06 points — putting Messiah behind by a season-high 11-4 discrepancy.
With Coyle — the team's leader in draw controls and caused turnovers — urging her teammates on from the sidelines, Messiah put up one final push.
Freshman Maddie Comfort scored a nifty finish with 10:09 to play, and after three Messiah shots missed the mark, Comfort scored again with 3:47 on the game clock.
Sophomore Rachel Dirksen was able to flick the ensuing draw control to her own stick and fed senior Nikki Lawrence just moments later, the Salisbury, Md. native scoring a flat-angled strike with 3:30 to go.
Suddenly, it was the Falcons' bench that had a bit of momentum, trailing 11-7 and looking to put on another one of their patented scoring surges.
The momentum ended with about 2:04 to play.
Bovenzi got inside the arc and drew a foul, setting up the hard-shooting junior for a free position shot. Bovenzi drilled her shot off the pipe, however, and FDU's Breana Kilpatrick scooped up the loose ball.
A successful clear by the Devils put the onus back on the Falcons' defense, and the opportunity was gone.
Another goal from Lawrence was a moot point with 23 seconds remaining on the clock. Barring a miraculous at-large berth into the upcoming NCAA Tournament, Messiah's season was over.
Bovenzi, Lawrence, Kjellman and Comfort comprised the entirety of the Falcons' scoring on the day, each putting in a pair of goals. Thomas finished with a team-high three draw controls, while Dirksen and sophomore Jess Stevens each picked up four ground balls.
FDU-Florham, however, won both the draw control (11-10) and ground ball (25-22) battles, while junior goalie Kelly Butler was brilliant: The Bridgewater, New Jersey native finished with 10 saves, limiting Messiah to just two free position goals out of seven attempts.
Freshman Taylor Phillips finished with 13 saves in the Falcons' cage, but Messiah converted just eight of 26 total shots offensively. Dirksen, the team's leading scorer with 66 goals, failed to score for the first time in her collegiate career.
“(Butler) is the best goalie we've gone against all season,” Greer said. “Because she's so talented, you have to move her. You can't just shoot. We didn't do a good job on attack all afternoon.”
With the defeat, Messiah falls short of earning back-to-back MAC Championships, and will now await next Monday's selection show for the 2010 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championships 28-team field. While the chances of Messiah receiving an at-large bid are extremely slim (updates will be made to this site if the team qualifies) Greer said this year was great, regardless.
“This was a special team,” Greer said. “I feel badly for our seniors (Lawrence and Emily Van Hook). I think they both played their best lacrosse as seniors. They both matured and showed a lot of mental toughness during their careers. But this is really a heartbreaking way to go out. Even though it didn't finish the way we wanted, these girls worked really hard.”
