GRANTHAM, Pa. – Playing in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal, the second-seeded Messiah women's lacrosse team suffered a 10-9 setback against the third-seeded Stevenson Mustangs on Wednesday afternoon. In a game of runs, Messiah held a 4-3 lead late in the second quarter, but a 4-0 Mustangs run put Stevenson on top 7-4 early in the third. The Falcons rattled off four-straight goals, including three-straight from Katie Bukiewicz to snag an 8-7 lead as the game headed to the fourth quarter.
 
Stevenson took a two-goal lead after three-straight tallies to begin the final quarter. Grace Pettitt netted a goal with just over three minutes remaining to pull Messiah within one at 10-9, but the Falcons were unable to complete the comeback with a late shot from close range saved.
 
Stevenson advances to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game on Saturday, while the Falcons see the 2024 season come to an end. The Falcons finished the year with an 8-10 overall record, but a 6-1 mark in the conference.
 
How It Happened
The Mustangs were first on the board, scoring less than 90 seconds into the game, but Messiah responded by scoring three of the next four goals to take a 3-2 lead late in the opening quarter. The scores for Messiah came from Annalise Keitel, Hayley Lettinga, and Hannah Gawne. The final of those three tallies came on a free-position shot from Gawne with just 24 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Mustangs' Ava Treakle just barely beat the buzzer at the end of the quarter to level the game at 3-3 after 15 minutes of play.
 
A defensive second quarter followed with neither team finding the twine for the first 11-plus minutes. It was Gawne scoring her second goal of the afternoon with 3:45 remaining before the half and putting the Falcons up 4-3. The Mustangs responded with two scores in the next 35 seconds to take the lead back at 5-4. Stevenson added their sixth goal of the game in the final seconds of the quarter to take a 6-4 lead into the half.
 
A free-position attempt early in the third quarter bumped the Mustangs lead to three at 7-4, but the rest of the quarter belonged to the Falcons. Natalie Macri netted a free-position goal with 9:13 remaining in the third quarter before Katie Bukiewicz took over. The Falcons' first year, scored three-straight goals to give the Falcons an 8-7 lead at the end of the third quarter.
 
Stevenson took the lead right back with three-straight scores to begin the fourth quarter. The third of those scores came with 5:59 remaining in regulation. Less than three minutes later, Grace Pettitt beat the possession clock buzzer with a shot from nearly no angle. After rolling around the crease, Pettitt tucked a shot inside the left post from the right side to pull Messiah within one at 10-9.
 
Ninety seconds later, Messiah had a chance to tie the game. Playing a player up for the final 90 seconds, Messiah looked for their best chance to strike. Buckiewicz attempted a shot from the right side that was saved and the Mustangs ran out the clock to earn the 10-9 victory and advance to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game.
 
Wrapping Up the Season
Wednesday's loss capped off the 2024 season for the Falcons in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal. Messiah finishes the year with an overall record of 8-10 and a 6-1 mark in the conference. After a rocky, 1-8 start to the season, Messiah rebounded and rattled off seven-straight victories from Apr. 3-27. Six of those victories came against conference opponents as the Falcons qualified for the Conference Tournament for the 21st-straight season.