Grantham, PA – No. 9 Tufts University scored the game's first three goals and never trailed in a 14-7 win over No. 14 Messiah College on Sunday afternoon. The win pushed Tufts into the Regional Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Caroline Ross and Brigid Bowser combined to score eight goals and tally four assists in the win, while keeper Hannah Wilshire made five saves to hold off the Falcons.

The Commonwealth champion Messiah College Falcons' season came to an end at 14-5.
 
The Jumbos scored three goals in the first six minutes of play, with Jenn Duffy tallying twice over that stretch. Liz Brennan then scored back-to-back goals—both off assists from Madi Brunk—to bring Messiah within a 3-2 score.
 
Unfortunately, that would be the closest Messiah could get from that point forward; Tufts scored five-straight times to head into the half with an 8-2 lead.
 
Six different Jumbos scored in the first-half as they took advantage of uncharacteristic sloppy play from Messiah. The Falcons turned the ball over just eight times in the first-half, but each of those turnovers seemed large considering Tufts' ability to hold territory for long stretches.
 
In the second-half, despite their best efforts, Messiah could never score back-to-back goals as Tufts executed well with their lead. Carly Bajus, Stephanie Athens (2), Shayna Delaney, and Claire Stikeleather all tallied for the Falcons, while Madi Brunk handed out two more assists.
 
Alexa Dipeso collected five saves in the cage for Messiah.
 
Messiah did finish with a 13-10 advantage in draw controls, but they could never gather enough momentum to catch up to the visiting Jumbos.
 
As mentioned, Messiah finished their season at 14-5, including an 8-0 record in the Commonwealth with the conference title.
 
Tufts moved to 12-6 overall and will now face No. 3 Franklin & Marshall in the Regional Semifinal.