GRANTHAM, Pa. – For the 11th time in program history, the Messiah women's lacrosse program with compete in the NCAA Tournament. The Falcons will take the field in Ewing, N.J. this weekend when they take on the St. Mary's of Maryland Seahawks in the First Round of the Tournament on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The winner of Saturday's game will take on The College of New Jersey in the Second Round at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
The Falcons enter the weekend with a 15-3 overall record and rank as the No. 11 team in the country. The Seahawks are unranked and hold an overall record of 11-7, but are coming off a victory in the United East Conference Championship last weekend. TCNJ is the No. 6 ranked team in the country and, like the Falcons, hold a 15-3 overall record. The Lions claimed their 12th-straight New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship last weekend.
Fans should note that tickets are required for entrance to the NCAA Tournament. Tickets can be purchased at the gate prior to the start of games this weekend.
See below for a quick preview of the teams competing in Ewing, N.J. this weekend:
No. 11 Messiah University Falcons – 15-3 overall, 7-1 conference – MAC Commonwealth Runner-Up
The Falcons enter the NCAA Tournament after finishing as the MAC Commonwealth Runner-Up last weekend. The Falcons hold an overall record of 15-3 this season with two of their losses coming against the No. 10 York Spartans and their only other setback coming against the No. 8 Franklin & Marshall Diplomats. Messiah earned a statement victory over the No. 9 Gettysburg Bullets on Feb. 22 with a 10-6 win in Grantham, their first-ever triumph over the Bullets in program history.
Messiah will be making their 11th trip to the NCAA Tournament after earning their third at-large bid in program history. Overall, the Falcons own a 6-10 overall record in the NCAA Tournament advancing to the Second Round last season via a First-Round bye. In 2021, Messiah made their deepest Tournament run, moving into the Elite Eight after victories over Illinois Wesleyan and SUNY Cortland.
This season, the Falcons are paced offensively by
Rachel Delate, who has scored 55 goals and added 40 assists for 95 total points on the year. Delate is the first player in program history to accumulate 90-plus points in three different seasons with the Falcons. Delate has done so in all three of her seasons with the Falcons.
Makenzie Schnur (50p, 28g, 22a),
Emma Lytle (40p, 31g, 9a), and
Hayley Lettinga (35p, 29g, 6a) all have at least 35 points for the Falcons this season while
Hannah Gawne (20 goals) and
Hope Flack (23 goals) have both chimed in offensively as well.
On the defensive end,
Grace Gormley was named the MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Year after anchoring a defense that has allowed the 21st lowest goals against average in the country this year at 7.07. Gormley leads the Falcons with 58 ground balls, 49 caused turnovers, and 76 draw controls. Between the pipes,
Mackenzie O'Haver and
Grace Hejeebu have split time for the Falcons. O'Haver has played the bulk of the first halves with a 7.43 GAA and a .465 save percentage across 614:06 minutes. Hejeebu carries a 6.60 GAA with a .464 save percentage across 472:43 minutes.
St. Mary's College of Maryland Seahawks – 11-7 overall, 5-0 conference – United East Conference Champions
St. Mary's of Maryland will be making their 10th trip to the NCAA Tournament after winning the United East Conference Championship with a 23-6 victory over SUNY Morrisville this past weekend. The Seahawks advanced to the Second Round a year ago, but had their run ended by TCNJ by a 20-12 final score. All-time the Seahawks hold a 4-9 record in the NCAA Tournament, advancing as far as the Elite Eight in both 1998 and 2002.
This season, the Seahawks carry an overall record of 11-7 with the bulk of their seven losses coming against teams ranked in the top-25.
Offensively, the Seahawks are led by Hailey Betch and her 97 points. Betch has found the back of the cage 64 times his season and assisted on 33 other tallies. Colin Horton is close behind with 55 goals on the season while adding nine assists for 64 total points. Katelin Scala (53p, 24g, 29a) is the only other Seahawk with at least 50 points, but five others have at least 25 points on the season to round out the well-balanced attack.
Defensively, Rachael Freeman leads the team with 51 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers. Between the pipes Maddie Clemmer has played all 1,065 minutes in goal with a 10.76 GAA and a .412 save percentage.
History Against Messiah
The Falcons and Seahawks have met two times. Most recently, the Seahawks defeated the Falcons 16-15 in overtime on Mar. 10, 2022. In that game, Messiah trailed 14-8 late in the third quarter, but went on an 8-1 run to force overtime. St. Mary's of Maryland held on for the victory, scoring less than four minutes into overtime. A decade prior, the Falcons earned a 16-3 victory over the Seahawks in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Mar. 13, 2012.
No. 6 The College of New Jersey Lions – 15-3 overall, 5-0 conference – New Jersey Athletic Conference Champions
The College of New Jersey enters the NCAA Tournament as winners of the New Jersey Athletic Conference with a 16-9 victory over Rowan in the title game. The Lions enter the NCAA Tournament as the most decorated Division III women's lacrosse program in history, winning a dozen National Championships and making 36 previous appearances in the National Tournament. Overall, the Lions hold an 87-24 record in NCAA postseason play, winning 12 National Championships and advancing to 26 Final Fours.
The Lions are one of the top teams in the country and have just three losses this season. Those three setbacks have all come against teams currently ranked in the top-10, including losses to No. 1 Middlebury (17-11), No. 4 Salisbury (11-9), and No. 9 Gettysburg (17-9). The rest of their schedule they have handled pretty well, winning by at least seven goals in 13 of their 15 victories.
A well-balanced team, the Lions feature a top-50 offense that averages 15.17 goals per game, but it's on the defensive side where TCNJ makes their presence known. The Lions allow just 6.06 goals per game, good enough for the sixth-best scoring defense in the country. Three different players have at least 20 caused turnovers on the season with Madison Wernik and Wayden Ay leading the way with 25 and 24, respectively. In goal, Julia Charest plays the bulk of the minutes with 826 minutes played this season. She carries a 7.33 GAA with a .519 save percentage this season.
On the offensive end, the Lions spread the wealth across a number of different players. Ally Tobler leads the way with 72 points on 62 goals and 10 assists, but Anna Devlin (66p, 47g, 19a), Anna Wright (63p, 50g, 13a), and Katherine Naiburg (50p, 31g, 19a) are all north of 50 points on the season. Devlin leads the team in draw controls as well with 119 while also picking up 30 ground balls and causing 20 turnovers.
History Against Messiah
The Falcons and Lions have met five times in women's lacrosse. TCNJ holds a 4-1 all-time record against the Falcons with Messiah's lone victory coming in Grantham on Mar. 14, 2015, by a 12-11 final score. Their most-recent meeting came on Mar. 24, 2016, with the Lions earning a 13-6 victory in Ewing, N.J.
