GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's lacrosse team wrapped up the 2019 regular season with a 12-10 victory over the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Saturday afternoon. Messiah jumped out to a 7-2 lead just over 20 minutes into the match, but the Dutchmen battled back, scoring the next six goals to take an 8-7 lead early in the second half.
 
The Falcons weathered the storm and rattled off the next four tallies thanks to scores from Joanna King, Amanda Wadsworth, Jamie Bishop, and Jessie Wynne. Lebanon Valley scored two to pull with one at 11-10, but a late goal by Mckenna Edwards rounded out the scoring and gave the Falcons the 12-10 victory.
 
With the win, Messiah finishes the year with a conference record of 6-2 and in a three-way tie with Lebanon Valley and Albright for the second seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament.
 
Since all three teams went 1-1 against each other, goal differential was used as a tiebreaker. As a result, Lebanon Valley takes the second seed, Messiah earns the three seed, and Albright enters the conference tournament as the four seed.
 
The Falcons will travel to Annville to take on the Dutchmen on Wednesday for the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals at a time to be determined.
 
Trading Early Goals
Messiah got on the board less than 30 seconds into Saturday's match with Katelyn Pearson's 12 tally of the season. Jamie Bishop doubled the Falcons' lead with a score three minutes later off an assist from Joanna King.
 
The Falcons kept the Dutchmen off the board for nearly 10 minutes, but Brittany Hathaway connected on an unassisted goal with 20:39 remaining in the first half to cut Messiah's lead in half. After eight-plus minutes of scoreless play the Dutchmen scored their second-straight goal with Emily Federowicz finding the back of the cage to tie the game at 2-2 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the opening period.
 
Draws Allow Falcons to Control Pace
Following Federowicz's goal Mckenna Edwards collected the first of five-straight draw controls for the senior. After Edwards won the draw, Messiah scored on their ensuing possession with a tally from Abby Howard to start a two-and-a-half-minute stretch that saw Messiah tally five-straight goals.
 
During the run Edwards dominated the draw, winning all five contested to give Messiah sustained opportunities. They cashed in on those chances, scoring five goals on six shots in a 2:21 span to turn a 2-2 tie into a 7-2 Messiah lead. Abby Howard scored twice on the run while Edwards, Amanda Wadsworth, and Joanna King each tallied once.
 
The Dutchmen Strike Back
After Messiah's 5-0 run, the Dutchmen put together a 6-0 run of their own to take their first lead of the game early in the second-half. Five different Dutchmen scored on the run that spanned across both halves.
 
Messiah Takes the Lead Back
The third major run of the game came in the middle of the second half. Messiah rattled off four-straight goals in the span of 3:14 to take a three-goal lead at 11-8. Joanna King started the run with her seventh goal of the season and second of the game, tying the game at 8-8. After Edwards won another draw, Wadsworth found the back of the net on a free position shot. Tallies by Jamie Bishop and Jessie Wynne followed and the Falcons held an 11-8 lead with 18:28 remaining in the game.
 
Lebanon Valley closed the gap to one at 11-10 thanks to a pair of free position goals, but a late tally by Edwards in the final five minutes gave Messiah the 12-10 victory.
 
What's The Impact
By claiming a two-goal victory, Messiah locks up the third seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament that will take place next week. Messiah, Lebanon Valley, and Albright all finished conference play with records of 6-2 so tiebreaking criteria was used to assign seeds for the tournament. Since all three teams were 1-1 against one another, the secondary criteria was goal differential.
 
Lebanon Valley defeated Albright 17-12 earlier this season so despite Messiah defeating Lebanon Valley on Saturday, the Dutchmen had the largest goal differential among the three teams. As a result, Lebanon Valley earned the two seed, Messiah the three, and Albright the four.
 
Messiah and Lebanon Valley will square off in the MAC Commonwealth semifinals on Wednesday in Annville at a time to be determined. Check GoMessiah.com early next week for game times and a preview of the week.