Grantham, PA - No. 17 Messiah College led by a single goal over Stevenson midway through the first-half before completely dominating the rest of the way en route to a 17-5 win over the Mustangs. Allie Colson scored five goals and both Shayna Delaney and Stephanie Athens tallied four times to lead the Falcons' attack.

The win moved Messiah to 9-5 overall and also 5-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. Stevenson fell to 6-8 overall with a 4-1 mark in the conference.

Messiah next plays this Saturday when they host Arcadia University at 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday's game was a rematch of last year's MAC Commonwealth Championship and, like last year, the Falcons came out on top. But today's chapter of the rivalry included a lopsided decision, with Messiah outplaying Stevenson for nearly three-fourths of the afternoon.
 
Shayna Delaney got the scoring started with an opening goal at the 18:47 mark, and soon enough the teams were trading scores until it was 3-2 in favor of Messiah with 12:29 to play. That's when Messiah began to create some space.
 
Stephanie Athens scored her first goal of the afternoon to make it 4-2, and Allie Colson tallied a minute later off a free-position shot atop the crease. After Brady Heher brought Stevenson within 5-3, Messiah rolled off six-straight goals to span the first and second periods. Ida Ehrhardt provided one of the highlights of that streak with a direct tally off a draw control that made it 7-3.
 
Athens tallied the final two goals of that 6-0 run and, when Messiah's streak was over, they led by an 11-3 score with 25:22 left to play.
 
Kellie McLaughlin ended Messiah's run with a goal to make it 11-4, but the Falcons responded another 6-0 streak to put the game away. Colson scored her fourth and fifth goals over that final stretch to help the Falcons to the win.
 
Athens added an assist and a game-high six draw controls to her four goals, with Ehrhardt grabbing four draw controls of her own to go along with two tallies and two assists. Delaney also collected two assists.
 
In the midfield and on defense Messiah was solid, with Emma Hawthorne (3), Kylie Hornbarger (2), and Audrey Liberatir (2) combining for seven of the Falcons' 13 caused turnovers. Messiah's defense also held Stevenson to 11-18 on clears while forcing Stevenson's Olivia Monteiro to commit five turnovers.
 
Alexa Dipeso was also strong in the cage as she made more saves (6) than goals allowed (5) on the Mustang's 11 shots on frame.
 
Lebanon Valley also won this afternoon (16-12 over Lycoming) and remain tied with Messiah at 5-0 in the conference. The Dutchmen will host Stevenson on Saturday and the Falcons, as mentioned, will host Arcadia.