Box Score
Hartford, CT - The Messiah College Falcons fell short of advancing to the NCAA Regional Finals for the first time in program history on Saturday, as they lost to the Colby College Mules by the score of 16-5.
The loss ends Messiah's season in the Regional Semifinals for the second-straight year, with the Falcons having entered this year's NCAA Championships by way of an at-large bid.
The Mules got off to a fast start on Saturday, scoring the game's first goal at the 27:54 mark of the first half. Though the Falcons would tie the game exactly 90 seconds later on a goal by
Lizzy Keeney, Colby would roll off seven consecutive scores to take a commanding 8-1 lead just before the intermission.
Junior Kate Pistel collected four goals in the opening frame after coming into the game with 24 goals on the season.
The halftime would arrive with Colby holding the 8-1 advantage, controlling most aspects of the contest—at least, the important ones. They launched 17 shots in the first half, nine more than Messiah. Twelve of the Mules' shots were on goal, with freshman
Kelsey Luck making four saves. Colby collected two more groundballs than Messiah (8-6), making up for the Falcons' 7-3 advantage in draw controls.
Messiah and Colby each committed nine turnovers in the first half.
At the start of the second half, Messiah seemed to establish improve possession and execution. However, it proved to be too-little, too-late as Colby was able to play effectively with their lead.
Helping Colby's cause was goalie Michelle Burt, who entered the game with a .544 save percentage—good for 9
th in the nation. She proved to be an overwhelming challenge to the Falcons' offense, collecting nine saves even as Messiah was furiously trying to close their deficit.
The Mules' Linsdsey McKenna and Tess Petesch took turns scoring in the second half, as they finished with four and two goals, respectively.
The Falcons were led in scoring by
Lizzy Keeney and Jamie Gerheart, with the duo each scoring two goals. Throughout the game, it appeared that the Messiah offense offense, ranked 22
nd in the nation, could never get comfortable against the Mules' defense.
Most glaringly, the Falcons'
Rachel Dirksen, Keeney,
Cecilia Kjellman, and
Meghan Doolittle were only able to collect 11 total shots in the loss—five of them by Keeney. The foursome had entered the game with a combined 198 goals in 2012.
Uncharacteristically, Dirksen collected only a single point in the loss-- an assist on Messiah's very first goal. Such a note is sure to bring more attention to the Mules' defensive efforts, as Dirksen completes her career as the most accomplished individual player in Falcons' history. She ends the season as the Falcons' all-time leader in career goals scored (238), assists (107), points (345), and draw controls (237).
With the win, the Mules advance to a Regional Finals' match-up with Trinity College (Conn.). The game will be played at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, with the winner advancing into the NCAA Final Four.
The 2012 season comes to an end with heavy hearts for the Falcons, as this year's senior class is arguably the most accomplished class in program history. The five seniors of Dirksen,
Rachel Coyle, Doolittle, Gerheart, and
Jess Stevens finish their careers with a record of 61-15—the most wins over a four-year stretch for a Falcons' team.
This year also marked the third time in four years that the Falcons advanced into the NCAA Championships for women's lacrosse, with the two other years—2009 and 2011—including MAC Championships.
