GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah Women's Lacrosse team secured a spot in the 2026 MAC Commonwealth Championship game after defeating Widener 14-4 in Wednesday night's Semifinal match-up at Witmer Family Lacrosse Stadium. The Falcons took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter before extending the lead to 8-0 at half time. Messiah held an 11-1 lead with one quarter to play before the teams went three and three in the fourth as the Falcons took the 14-4 win to advance to the Championship game on Saturday.
Grace Pettitt led the Falcons with seven points on four goals and three assists while
Hayley Lettinga added four goals and an assist.
Hannah Gawne and
Annalise Keitel each tallied three goals with Keitel adding an assist. Gawne led the Falcons with 10 draw controls and three caused turnovers, adding three ground balls.
Grace Hejeebu made five saves in goal and tallied four groundballs.
The Falcons will return to Witmer Family Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday, May 2 at 5:00 p.m. when they host the Spartans of York College.
First Quarter
Hayley Lettinga got the Falcons on the board three minutes into play on a free position goal. She then had a shot just wide before
Grace Pettitt fired a shot on goal that was saved by the Widener goalie. After some back-and-forth play, Pettitt tallied a free position goal to extend the Messiah lead to 2-0. At 3:37, Widener fired their first shot, with
Grace Hejeebu making the save in goal.
Kayla Arnold fired a shot on the other side of the field, saved by the Pride goalie.
Grace Hejeebu made a save in goal before the Pride fired a shot off the crossbar.
Hannah Gawne recovered the groundball before scoring a goal at the other end to give Messiah a 1-0 lead into the break.
Second Quarter
Messiah started the scoring early in the second quarter with
Hayley Lettinga finding
Grace Pettitt for a goal. Pettitt missed a free position shot just wide before Lettinga had a shot saved by the Widener goalie.
Hannah Gawne missed a free position shot high before
Dani Sauder had a shot on goal saved. With 8:45 to play in the first half, Pettitt found Lettinga to extend the lead to 5-09 before Lettinga missed a shot wide and had a shot saved. Pettitt then found
Annalise Keitel for a goal before
Kendall Bayley fired a shot off the post. The Pride fired a shot on goal that was saved by
Grace Hejeebu before Messiah tallied a pair of goals in the final minute from
Annalise Keitel and
Grace Pettitt to take an 8-0 lead at halftime.
Third Quarter
Hannah Gawne and
Grace Pettitt each tallied unassisted goals in the opening minutes of the second half to give Messiah a 10-0 lead and begin a running clock.
Annalise Keitel and
Hayley Lettinga each had a shot on goal saved before Keitel tallied a free position goal with 5:37 in the third to take an 11-0 lead. After a shot from the Pride hit the post, the rebounded groundball was fired into the back of the net for the first Widener goal of the game.
Kendall Bayley fired a shot off the post and Keitel missed a shot just wide as Messiah carried the 11-1 lead into the final quarter of play.
Fourth Quarter
Grace Hejeebu made a save early in the fourth before
Hannah Gawne tallied an unassisted goal to extend the lead to 12-1. After another save in goal for Hejeebu,
Annalise Keitel found
Hayley Lettinga to bring the score to 13-1. Lettinga had a shot saved before the Pride notched their second goal on a free position shot with 6:32 to play. After the Falcons' defense blocked a shot from the Pride, the second chance shot found the back of the net to bring the score to 13-3 in favor of the Falcons. After a Pride timeout, Widener earned the draw control and tallied their fourth goal to end the running clock with 2:40 to play.
Hayley Lettinga tallied an unassisted goal to bring the score to 14-4. The Pride earned the draw control before
Hannah Lecci caused a turnover that allowed Hejeebu to recover the groundball and for Messiah to maintain possession as time expired to secure the 14-4 win and advance to the MAC Commonwealth Championship game.
Stats
Grace Pettitt led the Falcons with seven points on four goals and three assists while
Hayley Lettinga added four goals and an assist.
Hannah Gawne and
Annalise Keitel each tallied three goals with Keitel adding an assist. Gawne led the Falcons with 10 draw controls and three caused turnovers, adding three ground balls.
Grace Hejeebu made five saves in goal and tallied four groundballs.
Up Next
The Falcons will return to Witmer Family Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday, May 2 at 5:00 p.m. when they host the Spartans of York College.
