ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Elizabethtown Advances to MAC Finals With 15-9 Win over Messiah

Click here for the box score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Sophomore Megan Byrnes (Lutherville, MD/Towson) scored five goals on five shots as Elizabethtown College defeated Messiah College 15-9 in the Middle Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse semifinals at Wolf Field on Wednesday afternoon.

Junior Anna Ford (Salisbury, MD/Homeschooled) chipped in with three goals for the Blue Jays (11-4 overall), who earned the first postseason win in program history and advanced to Saturday's championship match at top-seeded FDU-Florham, which defeated Lycoming College 15-13 in Wednesday's other semifinal.

The Blue Jays scored six consecutive goals to take an 8-1 leaad in the first half, and held off a pair of Falcon rallies to earn their seventh consecutive victory overall.

Byrnes scored three times in the first half, and tallied twice after Messiah had pulled to within three goals in the second half. Ford scored all three of her goals in the second half after the Blue Jays lost leading scorer Katie Foley (Palmyra, NJ/Holy Cross) when she picked up her second yellow card with 13:43 left in the first half.

Foley scored two goals and added an assist before being ejected, while sophomore Alisha Sangrey (Columbia, PA/Hempfield) fired home a pair of goals for Elizabethtown.

Four different players scored two goals each for the Falcons (10-7 overall), who were outshot 35-24 by the Blue Jays in the contest.

First-year student Sarah Cullinan (West Chester, PA/East) had a strong defensive game for the Blue Jays with five ground balls, five caused turnovers and four draw controls. Kirstyn Wheeler led the Falcons with seven ground balls and four caused turnovers.

Junior Jenn Hawkins (Havre de Grace, MD/Havre de Grace) finished with 10 saves in goal for Elizabethtown, while Jen Venter tallied 12 stops for Messiah.

Score by period 1 2 Tot
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Messiah College..... 3 6 - 9
Elizabethtown Coll.. 8 7 - 15

Messiah College GOALS: Megan Bovenzi 2; Kara Geiman 2; Jackie Dando 2; Jessica VanHook 2; Nikki Lawrence 1.
ASSISTS: Megan Bovenzi 1; Kara Geiman 1; Nikki Lawrence 1; Bethany Moskevitz 1.

Elizabethtown Coll. GOALS: Megan Byrnes 5; Anna Ford 3; Katie Foley 2; Alisha Sangrey 2; Stephanie Kreis 1; Meg Cassels 1; Danielle Schaffer 1.
ASSISTS: Kelsea Kozak 2; Sarah Cullinan 1; Katie Foley 1.

SHOTS - MESS 24; ETOWN 35.

GOALIES - MESS: Jen Venter (12 saves); ETOWN: Jenn Hawkins (10 saves).