Box Score
York, PA - Looking to respond to one the most frustrating losses in recent program history, the Messiah College women's lacrosse team entered Saturday's matchup with York College as determined as they've been all season. The result was a 12-6 win over the Spartans, moving the Falcons to 7-1 while simultaneously putting behind them their
emotional loss to Franklin & Marshall from earlier in the week.
Senior
Rachel Dirksen scored five goals for Messiah College, with sophomore
Lizzy Keeney collecting four goals of her own as Messiah scored eight unanswered goals en route to victory.
"Our team was ready, and excited, to respond to our loss (at F&M)," Messiah head coach
Heather Greer said. "We had a game plan going into today, and we stuck to it until the final second."
Greer gave special praise to her team's senior players, as they set the tone throughout the day for a Falcons team ranked #12 in the IWLCA Top 20 poll.
"Our senior players really set an example for how to play smart, tough lacrosse for sixty minutes," Greer said. "Though they all have different roles on our team, it was evident that they were determined to have our team grow today."
Dirksen set the tone early for the Falcons, scoring the game's first two goals before two minutes even ran off the clock. Undeterred, the Spartans ran off four straight goals of their own to take a 4-2 lead. York's four straight goals were scored in a stretch of 8:06. Dirksen responded with another goal, drawing her team to 4-3 at the 17:51 mark.
After another Spartans' goal moved York's lead to 5-3, Messiah would score nine of the game's last 10 goals-- including eight straight to span the final 10:52 of the first half and the initial 20:53 of the second half. The final goal of the first half was scored by Keeney, tying the two teams at 5-5.
"Lizzy is such a huge part of our offense," Greer said, commenting on her sophomore attack. "She is incredibly intelligent on the field and on attack, and finished really well today."
The Falcons' eight straight goals included the first six goals of the second half, with two more scores each by Dirksen and Keeney. The final goal for York (8-2) was scored with 8:29 remaining, with the Falcons already leading 11-6 on their way to a 12-6 win.
Junior
Taylor Phillips collected nine saves in the win, playing from start to finish and rebounding from a challenging first ten minutes of the game.
"After the first part of the game, Taylor settled down and ran the defense effectively," Greer said, emphasizing the ability of Phillips and senior
Rachel Coyle to lead the Messiah defense. "She makes great saves and communicates well. Today, she also made the necessary adjustments and took away York's strengths."
One of the more significant adjustments made by the Falcons' defense was to shut down York junior Kim Wayson. Wayson came into the game having score 29 goals in nine games for York, and collected three goals for the Spartans in the first half. She only scored one goal in the second half.
"I was proud of our team's ability to push through that early deficit," Greer said. "We didn't panic. We stuck to our gameplan and eventually ran away (from York). We really busted our butts today."
The Falcons will now return home to face Catholic University on Wednesday, March 28. The game will be played on Messiah's Anderson Field at 4:00 p.m.
