WATERVILLE, Maine - Playing in their first-ever Elite Eight game, the No. 10 Messiah women's lacrosse team was unable to break the defensive effort from the St. John Fisher Cardinals, falling 9-5. The Falcons trailed 4-2 at the half and despite pulling within one goal in the final 10 minutes of play, Messiah was unable to complete the comeback.
 
The loss is Messiah's first of the year and ends the Falcons' deepest NCAA Tournament run in program history in the Elite Eight. The Falcons end the season with an overall record of 18-1.
 
St. John Fisher advances to the Final Four and will play the winner of the Tufts and The College of New Jersey game next weekend in Salem, Virginia.
 
Fisher Jumps Out Front
Sunday afternoon's contest was a defensive one from the start. St. John Fisher provided the offense over the first 20-plus minutes, putting three goals on the board with a pair of tallies from Brittan Halpin and one from Sydney DeGirolamo. The Falcons trailed 3-0 after 20 minutes of play.
 
Falcons Get on the Board
After being held scoreless for the first 23:53 of the contest, Rachel Delate connected with Hope Flack to put the Falcons on the board. That nearly 24-minute stretch is the longest the Falcons have gone without scoring to begin a game since Apr. 5, 2013 against Sailsbury.
 
Despite seeing a zero next to their name on the scoreboard for a majority of the half, Messiah wasted little time connecting on their second goal of the afternoon with Delate scoring off a nifty feed from Makenzie Schnur less than five minutes later. Delate's tally came right after a fourth goal from the Cardinals, but it pulled the Falcons within two at 4-2 at the half.  
 
Cardinals Bump Lead to Three
Just like the opening half, the start to the second period was a defensive one for both sides. Neither team was able to find the back of the net for the first 12 minutes of play. After the scoreless stretch, the Cardinals struck first with Brittany Halpin scoring her third of the day, pushing the St. John Fisher lead to three at 5-2.
 
Falcons Find Some Offense
With just under 11 minutes remaining, Messiah trailed by three 5-2. The Falcons quickly scored two-straight goals from Abby Howard and Emma Lytle in a 90-second span to pull the Falcons within one at 5-4. Rachel Delate feed Howard for the first and the second was an unassisted tally from Lytle.
 
Historic Run Comes to a Close
Following Lytle's score, the Cardinals called a timeout. Following the breather, momentum swung back in favor of St. John Fisher with Alyssa Sproule netting consecutive tallies to open the lead back up to three at 7-4 with 6:04 remaining.
 
Two and a half minutes later, Abby Howard found Hope Flack in the middle for a score with 3:35 remaining to cut the deficit to two at 7-5, but the Cardinals closed out the game with scores from Brittany Halpin and Alyssa Sproule to close out the match. St. John Fisher earned the 9-5 victory, advancing to the Final Four in Salem, Va. next weekend.
 
The setback is the first of the season for the Falcons, who finish the year with an overall record of 18-1, tied with the 2011 campaign for the most wins in a single season in program history. This season's Elite Eight run is also the deepest NCAA Tournament run in program history for Messiah women's lacrosse. The Falcons had previously reached the Sweet 16 four times, never advancing any further.