Box Score
Grantham, PA — Messiah head coach Heather Greer appeared to be having a hard time getting into the moment.
Seconds after the Falcons dispatched 16th-ranked Elizabethtown College by a 16-6 score to win its second MAC Championship in the three years, Greer stood on the sidelines, steely-eyed, not joining in the celebration on the field.
Nothing a little water and silly string couldn't fix.
Messiah doused their fourth-year head coach with plenty of both — trading Greer's scowl for a smile — as the team rejoiced in its second league title under Greer, this one coming in shocking fashion: After beating E'Town 11-9 back on Apr. 14 to ensure Saturday's game would be played at Anderson Field, Messiah put on an absolute clinic, dominating from start to finish in a game precisely as close as the final score indicated.
The disparity may have been shocking to most, but not to Greer.
“Honestly, I was confident going into today, but I don't think that was necessarily a bad thing,” said Greer, who now boasts a 54-17 record as the Falcons' leader. “I was confident because I really feel like, toward the end of the season, we have been doing a lot of the little things well. I feel like, since we first played E'Town, a lot of things have started to click for us. We went into today's game with a hard-core, attacking mindset. We weren't going to sit back. We knew what we wanted to do, and we wanted to go out strong.”
It was safe to say that Messiah — ranked 12th in the most recent IWLCA Top 20 Poll — did precisely that.
Following an opening minute to get reacquainted to the Blue Jays' defense, Messiah (17-1) went on a methodical tear, scoring five goals over the first 27 and a half minutes. Sophomore Cecilia Kjellman got things started by converting the team's first free position shot of the day at the 24:39 mark, while senior Kara Geiman finished a nifty Kjellman feed just a minute later.
When senior Megan Bovenzi won the ensuing draw control, she raced toward the E'Town goal and found Kjellman directly in front of it, the latter putting away her second goal of the game just 10 seconds after Geiman's first.
It signaled the beginning of a long day for the Blue Jays, who, coming into Saturday's game, had outscored Messiah by a 43-40 count in the teams' last four meetings.
Bovenzi and freshman Lizzy Keeney made certain those numbers would change, each scoring unassisted markers at the first half's 14:54 and 12:21 marks to make it a 5-0 Falcons' lead. A goal from E'Town's Meg Cassels stopped the bleeding only momentarily, as junior Rachel Dirksen scored back-to-back markers at the 7:40 and 5:56 ticks, the latter coming off a gorgeous find from Kjellman.
“The first game we played against Elizabethtown this year, I felt like they kind of dictated what we did on offense,” Greer said. “I thought today we were able to impose our game on them.”
The statistics agreed, as after nearly even numbers in the teams' first meeting, Messiah dominated nearly every aspect Saturday. Elizabethtown (16-4) won 11 of 21 draw controls in April. Saturday, Messiah took 15 of 23. At Ira R. Herr Field, the Blue Jays outshot the Falcons 32-23. In the MAC Championship, Greer's club took 36 shots to E'Town's 17.
“Everything was even when we played them the first time,” Greer said. “Even though we were happy to get that win, we honestly felt that we didn't play our best game that day.”
Saturday's contest was proof of it. Leading 8-1 at the break, Greer's troops didn't let an early 3-2 E'Town run phase them, scoring four straight to put the game out of reach. Keeney was the prime beneficiary, cutting into the crease and taking a pair of sweet passes from junior Jaime Gerhart to score Messiah's first two goals of the second half. Geiman followed with a free position shot and sophomore Maddie Comfort scored off a pass from junior Rachel Dirksen — a precursor to two more goals from Keeney, the first off another Gerhart feed and the second off a dish from Geiman.
E'Town's Katie Scheurich dropped in an unassisted goal with 8:59 to play, but a score from Gehrart and another from Bovenzi put the final touches on the lopsided win, making a goal from the Blue Jays' Emily Butler extremely moot with 38 seconds to go.
Keeney's five goals paced Messiah's effort, while Bovenzi, Dirksen, Kjellman and Geiman each added two. Gerhart dished out three assists, while Keeney led the way with seven draw controls; Kjellman and Geiman each scooped four ground balls.
Geiman was voted the tournament's most valuable player (she had five goals and four assists in Messiah's 23-5 win over Alvernia University in Wednesday's MAC Semi-Finals), though a number of players appeared deserving following the Falcons' program-record 13th straight victory.
“I don't want to take anything away from Kara, because she was great, but really, the team deserved the MVP award,” Greer said. “I know that sounds corny, but it was true. If we had a bad pass, someone else was there to pick it up. If we lost a ball, someone checked it and got it back. (Sophomore goalie) Taylor (Phillips) had another big game, (Rachel Coyle) ran our defense so well, (Kjellman) had a great game, Lizzy put up huge numbers ... this entire year has been such a team thing.”
Fortunately, it isn't over yet. Messiah earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament for the third time via its third league title (the others came in 2009 and 2006), and will await Sunday night's selection show to find out who, when and where it will play. Greer said she'll muse over just what this conference championship means later. Preferably much later.
“It's hard to reflect at this point, because the season is not over,” she said. “We're not done. Our job is not done. I told the team that I wanted them to enjoy this win, but tomorrow we find out who we play (in the NCAA Tournament). We accomplished one goal in winning the MAC Championship, but we've got other goals.”
Messiah will learn where, when and who it will play Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. EST, when the NCAA airs its NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Selection Show. Fans can watch the show live on NCAA.com.
