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York College of Pennsylvania

Scoreboard

Scoreboard

wlax-mac-champ-23
7
Messiah MESS 15-3
10
Winner York (Pa.) YCP 16-3
Messiah MESS
15-3
7
Final
10
York (Pa.) YCP
16-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Messiah MESS 1 1 1 4 7
York (Pa.) YCP 3 4 2 1 10

Game Recap: Women's Lacrosse | | Derek Behrenshausen - Asst. Director of Athletic Communications

Spartans Capture Back-to-Back MAC Commonwealth Crowns

YORK, Pa. - The top-seed York women's lacrosse team held off a late surge by Messiah in a 10-7 victory at Kinsley Field on Saturday to clinch their second-consecutive MAC Commonwealth title.

The Spartans held a 9-3 lead after three quarters of play which proved valuable as the Falcons out-scored York, 4-1, in the final quarter.

Spartan senior goalie Bella Garabo earned MAC Commonwealth Championship MVP honors as she made 12 saves, including five in the fourth quarter, to hold the Falcons to their second-lowest goal total of the season.

Team Records
(2) Messiah 15-3
(1) York 16-3

How It Happened
After trading goals in the first five minutes, the Spartans scored two unanswered to take a 2-1 lead after one quarter of play. York stopped the Falcons on their final five possessions of the first quarter with two caused turnovers and two Bella Garabo saves. York held the Falcons scoreless for 14 minutes which extended into the second quarter following Messiah's opening goal five minutes into the first period.

York took advantage of seven second-quarter turnovers by Messiah and racked up a 7-2 halftime advantage while holding the Falcons to just one shot in the second. Giana Huet and Zoe Kluegel both tallied their second goals of the game as part of a four-goal second quarter for York. The Spartans could have added more if not for two big saves by Messiah goalie Mackenzie O'Haver with three minutes to go in the period on a free-position shot by Logan Ward and again on Natalie Neiman's follow-up attempt.

The Falcons won three out of the four draw controls in the third quarter, but failed to gain traction due to five turnovers and four saves by Garabo. Teresa Matthias and Kluegel bookended the third-quarter scoring as York took a 9-3 lead heading to the fourth.

Despite Messiah losing their leading scorer, Rachel Delate, in the third quarter, the Falcons made a run at the lead and cut the deficit to four (9-4) with 10:25 left in the fourth. With momentum building, Messiah went on the woman-up for two minutes with 9:52 left, but the Spartans put on a huge defensive stand led by three saves from Garabo to kill the penalty.

York's short-handed defensive stand extended into a five-and-a-half minute scoring drought for Messiah before the Falcons got back on the board with 4:27 left trailing 9-6. That stand proved to be crucial as the Spartans drained enough time off the clock before stopping the Falcons once again and then scoring with 2:27 left to ice the game on Kluegel's fifth tally of the day.

Up Next
The Spartans will find out when and where they will be playing next following the NCAA Selection Show at 10:30 a.m. on Monday morning streaming on NCAA.com. York will be making its 10th NCAA postseason appearance after earning the automatic berth from winning the MAC Commonwealth title.

Notes
York improves to 9-7 all-time against Messiah after winning the last three meetings and is 1-1 against the Falcons in conference title games … the Spartans are now 6-1 all-time in MAC Commonwealth tournament history with a mark of 2-1 in MACC title games … the Spartans now have three conference titles to their credit, with one as a member of the defunct Capital Athletic Conference (2019) and two as a member of the MAC Commonwealth (2022-23) … York has appeared in nine conference title games with a record of 3-6 … York has now won 20-straight games against MAC Commonwealth opponents including regular and postseason play … the Spartans held conference opponents to single-digits in all 10 games this season and limited the Falcons to their two lowest goal totals of the season … Kiersten Blanchard moved into a tie with Devin Hursey for fifth on the program's all-time points list with 170 following her two assists on Saturday … Zoe Kluegel led all players with a career-high five goals on the day as she increased her team-leading total to 47 on the season.





 
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