Annville, PA - No. 17 Messiah College started strong and finished stronger in a 16-9 win at Lebanon Valley that locked down the No. 1 seed in next week's MAC Commonwealth Tournament. Jenna Stover scored four goals and both Allie Colson and Stephanie Athens tallied three times to lead the attack. Ida Ehrhardt (4 CT) and Alexa Dipeso (7 saves) were standouts for a defense that held an opponent to single-digit goals for the fifth time in six games.

As mentioned, Messiah will now play as the No. 1 seed in next week's tournament. They will host the winner of No. 4 Albright and No. 5 Lycoming on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. Stevenson will play as the No. 2 seed and will host No. 3 Lebanon Valley, also on Wednesday.

The Falcons led 11-6 at the half, but Lebanon Valley did not wither as they came out and scored three of first four goals of the second-half. The pace of the final 30 minutes was also much different than the first-half, as both teams played scoreless for more than 13 minutes before Messiah tallied with 8:02 left to play. That goal from Athens gave the Falcons a 13-9 lead, and they would score three more before the final horn to earn the victory.

Shelby Morris did her best to slow down Messiah's dynamic offense, but even her 22 saves-- including 12 in the first-half-- could not keep the Falcons from putting up another big number. In the first-half Messiah was especially overwhelming as they built the aforementioned 11-6 lead. The Dutchmen kept pace for more than 20 minutes, but a 7-6 Messiah lead turned into a five-goal advantage in the final five minutes before the break.

Shayna Delaney started the game-changing streak off a feed from Athens with 4:56 to play. That was her second goal of the game and, a few minutes later Allie Colson tallied for the first time to make it 9-6. An unassisted score from Jenna Stover made it 10-6 with 36 seconds on the clock and, after Athens earned a draw control, Courtney Wagner put through a free-position shot with just two seconds on the clock.

The big finish by Messiah gave them all the momentum heading into the second-half. That proved to be a difference as both teams combined for just eight more goals in the final 30 minutes.

Ehrhardt added a game-high six draw controls to her four caused turnovers, and Audrey Liberati collected four draw controls of her own. Athens did a bit of everything the field by adding four groundballs, two caused turnovers, and two draw controls to her three goals and single assist.

As mentioned, Messiah will now await the winner of Albright and Lycoming for the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal to be played on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. The Lions and Warriors will play on Monday.

Fans are encouraged to follow GoMessiah.com early next week for a preview of next week's conference tournament.