Grantham, PA – Messiah College women's lacrosse is poised to take on the Crusaders of Alvernia University for the second time in four days to start the Commonwealth playoffs. Messiah College comes into the 2014 playoffs with the No. 1 seed for the third time in four years.
Summary of Previous Matchup Messiah College dominated the first half against the Crusaders and took a 14-4 lead 7:26 into the second period. Alvernia attempted to rally back into the game, scoring 10 of the final 15 goals, but the advantage was large enough for Messiah to stay ahead.
Three different Falcons led the team with three goals each, while another five players added two goals apiece.
Lizzy Keeney paved the way in points with three goals and five assists in the game, while adding seven draw controls. Draw controls were key in the first half onslaught, with Messiah winning 12 of 13 through the first 30 minutes.
Alvernia's Candace Knight tallied five times for the Crusaders and Brooke Campione put away four goals. Knight also collected six draw controls in the game and leads the team this season with 51.
Sarah Dolan and Colleen Reilly both saved nine shots from between the pipes for their respective teams. Both teams were also even on turnovers with 18 each.
Players to Watch For Of course, impact players can't be talked about without mentioning
Lizzy Keeney's performance this season of 61 goals and 32 assists. However, what makes Keeney truly dangerous is her versatility on the field. Keeney just surpassed her own record for draw controls in a season with 88 in 2014.
Keeney was also able to adjust her role on the attack halfway through the season. In the last seven games Keeney assisted on 22 goals, while through the first nine games of the season provided the assist 10 times. The Falcons also happen to be riding a seven-game winning streak.
Keeney is not the only one dishing out the ball though,
Madi Brunk has led the Falcons all season in assists and currently has 37. Brunk's season-high of seven came against Widener on Apr. 8 and has 19 in the past seven games.
Claire Stikeleather is one of the players these two standouts have fed the ball to in the past seven games. The sophomore has collected 19 of her 28 goals in the last seven contests, all of which were multi-goal games. Stikeleather is also second on the team in ground balls (38) and draw controls (32).
Carly Bajus has been a threat all season for the Falcons with 31 goals on 56 shots to add depth to the offense. Leading the Falcons' defense is senior-captain
Emily Mumford with 33 caused turnovers and 47 ground balls.
Also adding depth to Messiah's roster for 2014 is the first-year combination of
Brooke Gamble (13g, 15a),
Jenna Stover (17g, 6a),
Shayna Delaney (19g, 2a), and
Casey Daggett (14g, 1a).
The Alvernia Crusaders do not have one standout performer on offense like the Falcons do, but rather have four leading scorers for 2014. Jacquelyn Strange, Brooke Campione, Julie Sutton, and Candace Knight all have at least 41 points this season and more than 33 goals.
The Crusaders do not fall behind in total goals this season but have not been able to add assists on to those goals where the Falcons have. As a team, Alvernia has collected 60 assists to the Falcons' 137.
Adding depth to the Crusaders' roster in 2014 are Nora Walsh (11g, 10a), Angel Adams (12g, 8a), and Katie Ensulo (16g, 0a). Defensively, Alvernia is led by Walsh with 22 caused turnovers and 47 ground balls.
Messiah and Alvernia will face off on Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. here in Grantham, Pa. Follow the game with live stats on
GoMessiah.tv.
The winner of this game will face off against the winner of No. 2 Lebanon Valley and No. 3 Stevenson on Saturday, May 3.
Â
