GRANTHAM, Pa. - Top-seeded Messiah field hockey scored in every quarter on Wednesday night to advance to the MAC Commonwealth Championship with a 5-1 victory over the Arcadia Knights. Messiah had four different Falcons find the back of the cage with Hannah Palm netting a pair of goals in the big victory.
 
Messiah will host the second-seeded Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Saturday in the Championship Game on Anderson Field at 1:00 p.m. The Dutchmen needed overtime to get through the Widener Pride on Wednesday night, but earned a 1-0 victory.
 
As mentioned, Palm led the offense with a pair of tallies while Emily Knepp, Nicole Shank, and Ashlyn Smith each connected in the victory. Messiah put the game away during a five-minute stretch at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Falcons tallied three times during the stretch to move their 2-1 lead to a 5-1 advantage with just over 10 minutes to play.

Palm Strikes First
The Falcons owned the ball in the first period but the Knights held Messiah two shots in the first period. Messiah had an early opportunity 2:05 into the game coming off a penalty corner after Mackenzie Brubaker sent a shot in. Brubaker's attempt was saved to keep the Falcons off the board. With Messiah still maintaining possession, they wouldn't take another shot until the 14th minute. With just 1:22 remaining in the first period, Makayla Malcolm breaks away and drives the ball into the circle before slotting it through to Hannah Palm. Palm took the pass right in the center of the circle and shot it through traffic to give Messiah a 1-0 lead to end the first period.

Double It
Messiah wasted little time in the second period, putting pressure on the Knights right from the start. Emily Knepp took things into her own hands for the Falcons' second goal of the game, taking the ball clear through the midfield and straight into the circle. Knepp found herself with space and struck a hard shot to the left post to double Messiah's lead to 2-0 just 1:26 into the second period. The Falcons went on to add another six shots in the second period but three of the attempts were saved while two went wide and one was blocked, ending the first half 2-0 in favor of the Falcons. 

Knights Respond
After the halftime break, the Falcons spent nearly two full minutes on the attack, despite being down a player after Hannah Palm was given a green card in the 37th minute. The Falcons' three corners and and two shots couldn't change the score in the 1:50 second time span. 
 
In the 41st minute the Knights were knocking on the door. Arcadia earned their first penalty corner and first shot of the game. Sydney Cyr's shot was blocked by just over a minute later, the Knights earned another corner. Cyr took another shot and goalie Megan Bomba was there to make the save but the Knights found the back of the cage 23 seconds later, cutting the Falcons' lead in half 2-1. 

Despite the Knights' goal, Messiah kept the offense going. After a penalty corner with 57 seconds on the clock, Jennie Young sent a shot in but it was just off target. With 33 seconds remaining in the third period, Nicole Shank split her defenders in the top of the circles and finessed a shot to the right post, giving Messiah a 3-1 lead heading into the fourth period. 

Going To 'Ship
The Falcons didn't sit on the 3-1 lead for long as they earned a penalty corner 36 seconds into the fourth period. Off the corner, Hannah Palm struck her second goal of the game to give Messiah the 4-1 lead. As if the dominant three-goal lead wasn't enough, the Falcons' Ashlyn Smith put the cherry on top with a goal in the 49th minute to give Messiah a 5-1 lead. Notably, Smith's goal was not only the fifth goal of the game but also the fifth goal of the season for Smith. 

Messiah was relentless as they closed this one out, earning an additional four shots and four corners in the closing minutes of the contest. The Falcons couldn't find the cage again in the fourth period but they wouldn't need to as they defeated Arcadia 5-1 to advance to their 30th Conference Final.

The No. 1 Falcons are set to take on the No. 2 Dutchmen this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. here in Grantham. The Dutchmen make their way to Anderson Field after downing the Widener Pride 1-0 in overtime. This weekend's Championship Final will be a rematch of the 2018 MAC Commonwealth Semifinal when Messiah stormed around Anderson, defeating Lebanon Valley 7-0 before winning the Conference Championship game 6-0 over Arcadia.