Box Score
West Palm Beach, FL — Just two days after handing fourth-ranked Franklin & Marshall College a 10-9 defeat in overtime, Messiah saw its Spring Fling Championship contest against William Smith College last too long.
Twelve seconds too long, to be exact.
The Herons' Lucy Johnson scored an unassisted goal with just 12 seconds remaining in regulation Thursday afternoon at Lake Lytal Park, giving William Smith a win by the same score — 10-9 — and handing Messiah its first defeat of the season.
The loss was only the second for the Falcons in their last 16 games, and kept the squad from winning their first-ever Spring Fling Championship.
“It's about the little things, and we didn't do the little things well today,” said Heather Greer, Messiah head coach. “We weren't catching the ball with our outside hand, we weren't clean with our ground ball pickups, we weren't clean in our defense … I always say it's about the fundamentals, and today we didn't do the fundamentals well.”
An aggressive and persistent William Smith defense only exacerbated that fact, as the Herons' ball pressure made things difficult on Greer's club from the outset. After freshman Lizzy Keeney scored the game's first goal just under five minutes in, the Herons ripped off three straight scores, two of which came from Johnson.
Senior Megan Bovenzi drilled a quick strike near the crease off a feed from classmate Kara Geiman with 15:51 to play in the first half, but William Smith (2-1) responded with two more scores in the game's next five minutes, taking a 5-2 lead with 10:45 to play before the intermission.
With momentum slipping away, Greer's squad played perhaps its best lacrosse of the afternoon, making a game of it before the halftime horn. Junior Meghan Doolittle scored off a nice diagonal cut – and feed from Keeney – with 10:09 to go, while junior Jaime Gerhart finished a dish from Keeney with 3:19 remaining.
When sophomore Cecilia Kjellman fired a shot from close range with 1:53 to play, William Smith goalie Jesse Wilson stopped it. The rebound, however, popped right back into Kjellman's stick, and the Phippsburg, Maine native put her second chance away, tying the game at 5-5.
“I was pleased with how we responded after falling behind, and I was pleased that we fought hard until the end,” Greer said.
Messiah (4-1) had to keep fighting in the second half, as the Herons raced ahead again. An initial William Smith score was answered by goals from junior Rachel Coyle and sophomore Maddie Comfort, but the Herons responded with goals at the 14:52 and 11:36 marks, taking an 8-7 lead.
After trading a pair of empty possessions, the Herons then began to milk the clock, extending their offense with seven minutes to play. Junior Jess Stevens came up with a huge check and ground ball pick up with six minutes to play, but Bovenzi's ensuing shot was snuffed by Wilson, keeping the Herons' one-goal lead intact.
Spreading the field in hopes of taking the clock down to zeroes, it wasn't until William Smith scored again that Messiah would have a chance. A goal from the Herons' Callie Frelinghuysen stopped the clock with 2:41 to go, and Greer inserted Comfort to take the ensuing draw control — her first appearance in the center field circle on the season.
Comfort flipped the ball to Bovenzi and Messiah marched down the field with urgency. Geiman drew a shooting space violation on the right side and, from a 45 degree angle, finished a difficult free position shot with a low, bouncer.
Again the draw control would be of utter importance, and again Messiah would claim it. Stevens scooped up the loose ball after Keeney took the draw, and the Falcons again pressed hard up field. This time, Kjellman got inside the Herons' low defense, but was fouled on the shot, drawing a free position attempt of her own.
She beat Wilson with another low blast, tying the game with just 43 seconds remaining and making overtime appear imminent.
Sadly, William Smith had other ideas.
Winning the ensuing draw, the Herons quickly advanced the ball into the Messiah defensive third, quickly drawing a pair of fouls. Sophomore goalie Taylor Phillips stopped William Smith's first free position shot, but the Herons were quick to the end line and maintained possession.
It was from that position that Johnson got free, beating Phillips with a spin move and high shot that splashed into the back of the net. Only 12 seconds remained on the clock.
When William Smith won the final draw control of the afternoon, the Falcons' final slim chance slammed shut. As the Herons celebrated on the field, Messiah was left to contemplate what might have been.
Statistically speaking, the game was as close as the final score. Each team recorded 27 shots on the day, while William Smith won 11 draw controls and Messiah 10. Each team was solid in clearing the ball – the Falcons finished 16 of 18 and William Smith 14 of 18 – while neither team found much success in free position shots (Messiah three for eight; William Smith two for eight).
The biggest difference in the game came in ground balls, where the Herons held a huge, 23 to 11 advantage. Messiah was also whistled for a season-high four yellow cards, picking up a season-high 32 fouls as well.
“That (fouls and yellow cards) was just another example of us not playing clean defense,” Greer said. “It was hot and we were tired. Having to play an overtime game two days earlier didn't help us. But that's the nature of the beast. William Smith was tired, too. It's not an excuse.”
Kjellman's two scores paced the Falcons' offense, while Keeney and Geiman each finished with two assists. Phillips was again outstanding in goal, picking up 10 saves for the second straight game.
As even keeled as Greer was following Tuesday's epic win, she spoke in the same tone following Thursday's bitter defeat.
“We need to take something away from this,” Greer said. “You can't let either experience go to waste. This was a simulation of the NCAA Tournament. You're playing great competition in back-to-back games … we want to use this to get better.”
Messiah will fly home from Florida and stay idle until Wednesday, when the team resumes MAC play against Widener University. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Anderson Field.
