NORTHBOROUGH, MASS. – On Wednesday afternoon, the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) announced their All-Region teams for the 2023 Division III women's lacrosse season. Among the 256 student-athletes honored were a trio of Falcons with
Rachel Delate,
Grace Gormley, and
Emma Hagg all earning accolades. Both Delate and Gormley were honored on the All-Metro Region's First Team while Hagg claimed Second Team laurels.
For Delate, Wednesday's honor is the third-straight First Team All-Region accolade. Gormley's First Team honor follows a Second Team nod from a season ago, while Hagg repeats on the All-Region Second Team.
The Messiah women's lacrosse program now has 53 separate honors in program history, across 18 different seasons. The trio are now eligible for All-American honors that will be announced next week.
As mentioned,
Rachel Delate earns her third-straight First Team All-Region honor just a week after being named the MAC Commonwealth Attacker of the Year. In 20 games this season, Delate churned out a team high 100 points with 57 goals and 43 assists. With her 100 points this season, Delate now has two seasons of at least 100 points, the first player in program history to reach that milestone. In 2021, Delate set the program record for points in a season with 123 and followed that up with a 90-point season last year. She finishes her career at Messiah with 313 points, the third-most in program history despite playing just two games in 2020 due to COVID. This season, she tallied a season high 16 points on Mar. 29, against Alvernia with seven goals and nine assists. The 16 points set a new program record for points in a game. Her nine assists were also a single-game program record. There have been eight seasons in program history in which a player has collected at least 90 points, Delate has three of them.
Grace Gormley earns her first career First Team All-Region honors after being named Second Team a year ago. Gormley was named the MAC Commonwealth Defender of the Year last week after anchoring the Falcons' defensive effort this year. This season, Gormley did a little bit of everything for the Falcons, grabbing 82 draw controls and being a central figure on clears. She did find the back of the cage three times, but her impact on the defensive end was massive. Gormley led the team with 54 caused turnovers and 68 ground balls. Those stellar stats all came while turning the ball over just 19 times on the season. Gormley led the conference with 2.70 caused turnovers per game and ranks 22nd nationally in the stat. Her strong defensive effort has helped the Falcons to a 7.16 goals against average as a team, the 21st lowest mark in the country this season.
Also on the defensive end,
Emma Hagg started al 20 games this season, claiming Second Team All-Region honors for the second-straight season. Hagg finished the season with 31 caused turnovers and 35 ground balls while turning the ball over just five times. She also grabbed four draw controls and dished out an assist this season. Hagg elevated her play in the NCAA Tournament, across two games in the Tournament Hagg caused six turnovers and grabbed six ground balls for the Falcons as they advanced to the Second Round.
The Falcons finished the season with an overall record of 16-4, finishing the year as the MAC Commonwealth Runner-Up, and advancing to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
