WATERVILLE, Maine - For the first time in program history, the No. 10 Messiah women's lacrosse team is advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament after picking up a 16-12 victory over No. 13 SUNY Cortland on Saturday afternoon.
Led by four tallies from
Abby Howard and
Rachel Delate, five Falcons finished with multiple goals on the afternoon.
Messiah advances to play the No. 9 St. John Fisher Cardinals on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Falcons Strike First
After turning away the Red Dragons on the opening possession of the game, Messiah went down and promptly scored with
Grace Gormley getting the Falcons on the board. Seven minutes later,
Amanda Wadsworth tallied to give the Falcons an early 2-0 lead, less than nine minutes into the contest.
Cortland's Strong Stretch
Hannah Lorenzen scored 10 times last Sunday against Rhodes to advance the Red Dragons into the Sweet 16 and during a three-minute stretch in the middle of the first half, she was right back to her scoring ways. Lorenzen scored three-straight goals in a three-minute stretch to give SUNY Cortland a 3-2 lead.
Abby Howard halted the run, leveling the score at 3-3 with 17:36 remaining in the opening half.
The Red Dragons' found back-to-back goals from Kiki Meager and Amy Hoeffner to take a 5-3 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the opening half.
After Messiah and Cortland traded goals, the Red Dragons continued to hold a two-goal lead at 6-4 with just over five minutes remaining in the opening half.
Costly Timeout
Following a Falcons' turnover, the Red Dragons had a quality look at goal, actually finding the back of the cage, but Cortland's head coach Carissa Medeiros called a time out just seconds before the shot was taken. As a result, the goal came off the board and the Falcons' defense held strong on the following possession.
That timeout and defensive stand seemed to shift momentum from the Red Dragons to the Falcons. Following the timeout, Messiah rattled off four-straight goals to end the half and turn what was nearly a 7-4 deficit into an 8-6 lead at the break. During the streak,
Ehryn Groothoff and
Hope Flack each scored once before
Grace Gormley connected for two in the final two minutes of the period.
Messiah Takes Control
The Falcons continued their streak after the break with
Rachel Delate and
Amanda Wadsworth scoring the first two goals of the second half. The two tallies put Messiah up 10-6 with less than 26 minutes to play.
Twelve minutes later, the Falcons lead remained four at 12-8 after each team netted a pair. The Falcons proceeded to scored four-straight tallies with two scores each from Delate and Howard to take their largest lead of the day at 16-8 with 8:16 remaining in regulation.
Final Cortland Push
Despite being doubled up with less than five minutes remaining, the Red Dragons rattled off four goals in less than two minutes to close the gap to 16-12 with 2:19 remaining. The Falcons held off the late charge, keeping the Red Dragons scoreless over the final two minutes and change to earn the 16-12 victory.
With the win, Messiah advances to their first Elite Eight in program history and remains perfect on the season, holding an 18-0 record this year.
What's Up Next
The Falcons advance to tomorrow's Elite Eight against the No. 9 St. John Fisher Cardinals, who defeated the No. 16 William Smith Herons 10-9 in the earlier Sweet Sixteen game in Waterville, Maine. The Falcons and Cardinals have never squared off in women's lacrosse.
