WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The No. 12 Messiah Field Hockey team concluded their 2024 season with a 2-1 loss against Williams College in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight on Sunday afternoon. Williams scored two goals in the first quarter that were unanswered before Chelsea Carpenter put the Falcons on the board with just under ten minutes to play in the game. Messiah was unable to find the equalizer and concluded their season with the loss.

First Quarter
The Falcons were prepared to face off with another tough opponent after the 2-1 win over Shenandoah to advance to Sunday's game and they were quick to come out on the attack looking to score. Messiah picked up their first penalty corner 2:32 into play. Teagan Murrie fired a shot that was blocked by an Ephs defender. Over the next three and a half minutes, the Falcons earned another three penalty corners, the third resulting in a shot by Jenna Lutz that missed just wide.

Williams earned a penalty corner at 8:40 and Kiki Higgins was able to find Pilar Torres for the first goal of the game, giving Williams the 1-0 advantage over Messiah. At the other end of the field, Kelsey Heltzel fired a shot after a penalty corner but was blocked by an Ephs defender. With just over three minutes remaining in the opening quarter, Williams was awarded a penalty stroke, and it was again Torres able to convert the opportunity to increase the Williams lead to 2-0. Teagan Murrie took one final shot in the quarter, but it was blocked by a defender.

Second Quarter
Williams carried the momentum from the first quarter into the second quarter of play and fired their first shot three minutes in. Joy Lippert made the save in goal for the Falcons. The Ephs picked up a penalty corner at the 21:34 mark and fired back-to-back shots that Lippert again saved. A second penalty corner for Williams resulted in another shot on goal that was again saved by Lippert. Messiah earned a penalty corner with 2:25 remaining in the half but Mallory Kline's shot was blocked, and the score remained 2-0 in favor of Williams heading into halftime.

Third Quarter
The third quarter was slow for both teams with a lot of back-and-forth action taking place in the midfield. Hailey Womer missed a shot wide five minutes into the quarter. The Ephs fired one shot wide about three minutes later. Ellie Lefever fired a shot on goal at the 42:49 mark but the Ephs goalie was able to make the save.

Fourth Quarter
With 15 minutes remaining in the game, Messiah looked to pressure in hopes of keeping their season alive and advancing to another weekend of postseason play. Just over a minute into the quarter, Carrie Bair fired two shots on goal, forcing the Williams goalie to make the save on both. Williams then picked up three penalty corners in a minute that all resulted in shots on goal and three big saves for Messiah goalie Joy Lippert. Messiah looked to be building momentum in the final 10 minutes of play while they controlled much of the action.

Carrie Bair once again fired back-to-back shots on goal forcing saves by the Ephs goalie. Messiah earned a penalty corner and Carrie Bair fired off a shot that was saved. Teagan Murrie was able to send the deflection to Chelsea Carpenter who fired it back on goal and past the Ephs goalie to put the Falcons on the board. In the final seven minutes, Messiah earned five penalty corners, including one with 12 seconds remaining. The Falcons fired off three shots that were blocked and one on goal by Carrie Bair that was saved to keep the score at 2-1, ending the Falcons season in the Elite Eight.

Stats
Chelsea Carpenter had the lone goal for the Falcons. Junior Pilar Torres had both goals for the Ephs. Messiah out shot Williams 17-11, but Williams held the advantage in shots on goal 10 to eight. Messiah took 13 penalty corners and Williams took 6. Joy Lippert made eight saves in goal for the Falcons.

2024 Season Recap
Messiah finished the season 16-6 with a 7-0 regular season conference record. The Falcons finished at the MAC Commonwealth Runner-Ups and advanced to the Elite Eight Round of the NCAA DIII Field Hockey Tournament.