GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 11 Messiah women's lacrosse program concluded the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 17-5 victory over the Albright Lions. With the victory, Messiah improves to 14-2 on the year and 7-1 in the MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons had already earned the second seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament and will host the third-seeded Stevenson Mustangs on Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. in the conference semifinals.
 
On Saturday, Mackenzie Schnur led the Falcons with six points, scoring three goals and adding three assists while Rachel Delate scored four goals on the afternoon.
 
Messiah jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first five goals of the game and taking a 6-1 lead after the first quarter. The Falcons proceeded to outscore the Lions 9-3 across the second and third quarters as they cruised to the 17-5 win to close out the regular season.
 
As mentioned, the Falcons will host the Stevenson Mustangs in the MAC Commonwealth semifinals on Wednesday, May 3 at 4:00 p.m. on the Lacrosse Turf.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons tallied the first five goals of the afternoon, including three in the first four minutes of play. Rachel Delate, Hope Flack, and Emma Lytle were quickly on the board as the Falcons led 3-0 after just a few minutes of play. That lead turned to 5-0 after Delate connected on her second and Makenzie Schnur found the back of the net.
 
Albright stopped the scoring streak, with Ashleigh Tortorice finding the back of the cage, but Messiah's Natalie Macri scored the final goal of the first quarter and the Falcons led 6-1 after 15 minutes of play.
 
It was Albright on the board first in the second quarter, but Messiah closed out the half on a 5-1 run to take an 11-3 lead into the break. Makenzie Schnur scored twice in the period to led four different Falcon goal scorers in the quarter. Hayley Lettinga, Annalise Keitel, and Jordan Lewicki also found the back of the cage for the Falcons in the period.
 
After the break, Messiah cruised home for the 17-5 victory, outscoring the Lions 6-2 in the half hour. With 6:34 remaining in the third, Hannah Gawne put the Falcons up double-digits for good at 14-4 as the clock ran for the final 21 minutes of play.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals when they host the third-seeded Stevenson Mustangs at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The Falcons and Mustangs have met in the Conference Tournament seven different times since 2014 with Messiah holding a 5-2 record in those meetings.