GENEVA, N.Y. - The Messiah women's lacrosse team was first on the board thanks to a tally from Grace Gormley less than four minutes into the contest, but it was the William Smith Herons who earned a 17-10 victory in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon. The Falcons fell into a 6-1 hole late in the first quarter and despite a couple of mini runs were unable to claw their way back as the Herons advance to play the Colby Mules next weekend in the Sweet 16.
 
Messiah was led by Ehryn Groothoff, Grace Gormley, and Emma Lytle, who all finished with three points in the contest. Gormley and Lytle scored two goals and added an assist while Groothoff netted three goals on the afternoon.
 
William Smith's Allie McGinty led the way offensively for the Herons with a game-high seven points on six goals and an assist.
 
Messiah caps off the 2022 campaign with an overall record of 13-6 while appearing in their 10th NCAA Tournament.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons were first on the board less than four minutes into the contest with Grace Gormley darting through the Herons' defense and giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead. That tally by Gormley was followed by half a dozen goals from William Smith. Over a 7:35 stretch, the Herons scored six-straight goals and possessed the ball for a majority of that run. The result was a 6-1 lead for William Smith, but Messiah responded with a 3-1 run that spanned the end of the first and early second. William Smith scored with just one second left in the opening quarter to take a 7-2 lead after 15 minutes of play.
 
During the 3-1 Messiah run, AbbyEllen Wood scored late in the opening quarter while Grace Gormley and Emma Lytle connected on the first two scores in the second period. Gormley's tally came in the run of play while Lytle converted a free-position attempt.
 
William Smith responded with three-straight goals in the middle of the second quarter with Molly Davis connecting twice in a three-minute span and Allie McGinty fitting a tally in between of Davis' goals. That stretch, took the Herons' advantage to 10-4, but Messiah quickly cut the lead back down to four at 10-6 thanks to goals from Emma Lytle and Ehryn Groothoff in a 30-second span.
 
Once again, the Herons scored in the final minute of the period to take an 11-6 lead at the break.
 
Early in the third, Grace Gormley fed Ehryn Groothoff for the Falcons' seventh tally of the day and made it an 11-7 game. Messiah would be held scoreless until the final seconds of the period when Amanda Wadsworth netted a free-position attempt. Between Groothoff's and Wadsworth's tallies, William Smith scored four-straight goals to build a 15-8 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Across the final 15 minutes, both teams connected for a pair of goals with Ehryn Groothoff and Amanda Wadsworth scoring for the Falcons, but it was not enough as William Smith earned the 17-10 victory.
 
A quick look at the box score shows the Herons with advantages in most statistical categories, including shots (33-16), ground balls (24-13), draw controls (19-11), and turnovers (23-18).
 
With the victory, William Smith will move on to the Sweet 16 to take on Colby College, who won 20-4 against Merchant Marine in the Second Round earlier this afternoon.
 
The Falcons finished the season with an overall record of 13-6 while making their 10th ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.