GRANTHAM, Pa. – The second-seeded Messiah women's lacrosse team is heading to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game after a 10-6 victory over the third-seeded Stevenson Mustangs on Wednesday afternoon. The Falcons built a 9-2 lead midway through the third quarter, but weathered a 4-1 Stevenson run to claim the four-goal victory. With the win, the Falcons will advance to face the York Spartans in the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
 
York defeated the Widener Pride 16-1 in the other semifinals match on Wednesday afternoon. Messiah fell 10-5 against the Spartans earlier in the season when they met on Apr. 1.
 
Rachel Delate led the Falcons with five points, scoring three goals and adding a pair of assists on the afternoon. Makenzie Schnur scored three goals while four other Falcons found the back of the cage.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons built an early lead, scoring the first three goals of the contest. Rachel Delate and Emma Lytle connected on free-position attempts to score the first two tallies. Delate then scored her second of the game on an unassisted goal with 5:36 remaining in the opening quarter. Stevenson's Kara Yarusso got the Mustangs on the board with less than two minutes left in the period, but the Falcons led 3-1 after 15 minutes of play.
 
Delate was at it again early in the second, scoring an unassisted goal and assisting on a Makenzie Schnur tally just over three minutes into the period. The two scores gave Messiah a 5-1 lead early in the second. Kara Yarusso scored her second of the game for the Mustangs midway through the period, but Messiah scores from Hayley Lettinga and Annalise Keitel closed out the half with Messiah in front 7-2.
 
After the break, Messiah continued to steadily build their lead by outscoring the Mustangs 3-2 in the third quarter. The Falcons took a 9-2 lead with a Schnur goal that was assisted by Keitel before Hannah Gawne went coast-to-coast for the score. Gawne picked up a groundball right in front of the Falcons' crease and carried possession all the way for a successful clear. When no Mustangs stepped up to defend her, Gawne ripped a shot that was slowed by the Stevenson goalie, but trickled over the line for a 9-2 Messiah lead.
 
Stevenson responded by scoring four of the next five goals across the end of the third and early fourth, trimming the Falcons' lead to just four at 10-6.
 
Over the final 10 minutes, neither team found the back of the cage as the Falcons came up with a handful of quality saves from Grace Hejeebu and earned the 10-6 victory.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will advance to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game against the York Spartans on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The Falcons are looking for their ninth Conference Championship, most recently claiming the conference title in 2021 with a 17-10 victory over York.