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Grantham, PA - Messiah College's bid for a comeback win over Dickinson College came to a sudden halt with just two seconds remaining when the Red Devils' Caroline Clancy sent home a game winner off an assist from Jennifer Morrissey. The heart-breaking score broke a tie game and gave Dickinson a 12-11 win over the Falcons. 

The Falcons' Brooke Gamble had tied the game at 11-11 with 4:22 remaining-- the third time Messiah tied the game in the final period after trailing 9-4 at halftime. Lizzy Keeney even followed up that game-tying score with a draw control to give Messiah possession, but a turnover by the Falcons with under four minutes to play gave Dickinson the ball back. The Red Devils maintained possession until the final minute and twice called timeout before Clancy's late-second score. 

The loss dropped Messiah to 1-2 while Dickinson improved to 4-0.

Messiah's bid for their second win started off well when Madi Brunk tallied her season's first goal just 44 seconds in to the game. However, Dickinson responded quickly to score three-straight goals, the first two of which came from Katie Iverson. 

Midway through the first period Carly Bajus and Shayna Delaney brought Messiah back to tie the game at 3-3. Unfortunately, the Red Devils again responded, this time to the tune of five unanswered goals to take an 8-3 lead. Bajus and and Carly O'Brien traded scores in the final minutes before halftime and Dickinson led 9-4 at the break. 

The Red Devils' early lead was aided by nine draw controls compared to just five from Messiah. They also put through their nine shots on just 10 shots; Messiah put 11 of their 14 first-period shots on frame but JoJo Auerbach made seven saves. 

Messiah started the second period in stunning fashion, matching Dickinson's first-period run with five-straight goals of their own to tie the game. Five different Falcons--Bajus, Marybeth Bindel, Gamble, Lizzy Keeney, and Courtney Farlling-- tallied in the stretch that ended with 14:55 left to play. 

Over the next 10 minutes Dickinson and Messiah traded scores, as Iverson tallied twice more and Claire Stikeleather and Gamble matched with goals of their own. 

As mentioned, Messiah took possession after Gamble's goal but soon gave it back and Dickinson controlled for the final three-plus minutes. They called timeout with just 15 seconds remaining to set up their final play. Coming out the talk they executed to the left and Morrissey passed to the center of the goal to Clancy. The Falcons initially disrupted the play but Clancy still grabbed the ball in front of the cage for the game-winner. 

The Falcons' loss was made even harder considering they mostly outplayed Dickinson in the second period. Messiah led in shots (17-6), shots on goal (10-5), groundballs (11-9), and draw controls (7-3). They also committed just seven turnovers in the final 30 minutes. 

Iverson led Dickinson with four goals and an assist and Bajus was lead for Messiah with three goals and a helper. Auerbach was the Red Devils' unsung hero of the day with 10 saves in the cage. 

The Falcons will look to build on their strong finish and get back into the win column when they travel to College of New Jersey on Saturday, Mar. 8 for a game at 1:00 p.m. 

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