GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah women's lacrosse team wasted no time jumping out to an early lead en route to securing their first-ever undefeated regular season in program history. The Falcons defeated Stevenson 15-4 on Wednesday night to cap off the 2021 regular season with a perfect 13-0 overall record and an undefeated 8-0 mark in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
Rachel Delate led the Falcons with five goals and one assist for six total points. Makenzie Schnur dished out a game-high four assists while also scoring a goal of her own as a total of eight Falcons recorded points.
 
The Falcons will be the top seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament that begins next week. The Falcons are expected to take on the Alvernia Golden Wolves on Tuesday.
 
Jumping Out Early
On Wednesday, the opening push that Falcon fans have been so accustomed to seeing from the women's lacrosse team was a four-goal streaking in the first five minutes of play. Four different Falcons scored during the stretch with Rachel Delate, Grace Gormley, Abby Howard, and AbbyEllen Wood each finding the back of the cage.
 
Just a couple minutes later, Makenzie Schnur scored her first goal of the evening after assisting Delate on Messiah's opening score. Schnur's tally made it a 5-0 lead for the Falcons less than eight minutes into the contest.
 
The Mustangs would score two of the next three goals to pull within four at 6-2 with 17:28 remaining in the half, but Messiah countered with a 4-1 run to end the half and take a 10-3 lead at the break. Rachel Delate scored her 40th and 41st goals of the season during the run with Hope Flack and Emma Lytle each scoring once as well.
 
Cruising to Victory
Stevenson netted the first score after the break with Caroline Murphy scoring her 40th goal of the season, but Messiah scored five unanswered goals to claim the 15-4 victory. During Messiah's second-half run, Rachel Delate scored a pair while Amanda Wadsworth, AbbyEllen Wood, and Abby Howard each scored one.
 
In the game, Messiah outshot the Mustangs 40-15.
 
Between the pipes, Mackenzie O'Haver and Heather Burnham split time, making three and four saves respectively.
 
Conference Top Seed
As mentioned, the Falcons clinched the top seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament with their undefeated conference schedule this year. Messiah went 8-0 in the conference in regular season and will have home field advantage next week throughout the tournament. With COVID-19 altering the season, the postseason has been adjusted as well. All eight teams still in action will make the Conference Tournament with the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Championship Games scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of next week, respectively.
 
Messiah is expected to take on the eighth-seeded Alvernia Golden Wolves on Tuesday. Messiah defeated the Golden Wolves 21-7 in the regular season.
 
Fans are encouraged to follow GoMessiah.com throughout the week for the most up-to-date coverage of the Conference Tournament.