No. 2 Lebanon Valley 16, No. 3 Messiah 12
 
LVC Starters
Dills, Kelley, Eck, Mellendick, Ernst, Federowicz, Hathaway, Brewer, Little, Gabriel, Venezia, Franklin (GK)
 
Messiah Starters
Edwards, Radcliffe, Lortie, Howard, Pearson, Bishop, Schnur, Wynne, Johnsen, Stottlemyer, King, Orner (GK)
 
How It Happened
ANNVILLE, Pa. - Moving on! For the second consecutive season, and the second time in program history, Lebanon Valley is headed back to the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth Championship game after defeating Messiah 16-12 in the semifinal round game in front of a packed crowd at Arnold Field. The No. 2 Flying Dutchmen jumped to 10-7, while the No. 3 Falcons' season ended at 6-12.
 
LVC got off to a hot start as Jaclyn Little scored just under two and a half minutes into the game off an assist from Hathaway. Hathaway then found the back of the net less than a minute later, off an assist from Veronica Venezia, to make it 2-0 in favor of the home team. Messiah, however, evened the game quickly at 2-2 after scoring at 24:49 and 23:27. The goals kept coming for both teams, as Makenzie Kelley scored at 22:39, followed by Bailey Dills' tally with 17:34 remaining in the first to put the Dutchmen back up by two at 4-2.
 
From there, back-and-forth action ensued but LVC continued to remain on top. With the Dutchmen up 5-3 with 8:32 to go, Emily Federowicz netted an up-goal, followed by tallies by Hathaway and Venezia, giving LVC an 8-4 cushion with 6:01 to go. The Falcons got one back with just nine seconds remaining in the half, but the Dutchmen were still up by three with just 30 minutes between them and another trip to the conference championship.
 
In the second half, Federowicz and Hathaway went back-to-back to increase the home team's advantage to 10-5, but the visitors quickly made it a three-goal deficit thanks to two goals that came just 18 seconds apart from each other. The Dutchmen again had an answer and wouldn't let the Falcons get any closer, as Hathaway, Federowicz, and Venezia netted three straight for LVC to push its lead to six at 13-7 with 22:40 to go.
 
Later, with LVC ahead 15-9 with just 7:33 remaining, Messiah's Abby Howard scored an unassisted goal, followed by an up-goal to bring the Falcons to within four with 4:02 to go. Jamie Bishop then found the back of the net at 3:17, but Venezia controlled the ensuing draw and slashed Messiah's momentum. With 41 seconds left, Kelley put the game out of reach with an unassisted score and from there, the Dutchmen were able to run the clock out and hold on for the win.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - Tonight's victory was LVC's first win over Messiah since the 2014 season.
 - The Dutchmen will head back to the MAC Commonwealth Championship game for the second consecutive season.
 - These two teams met in Grantham this past Saturday when the Falcons edged LVC 12-10.
 - Hathaway stuffed the stat sheet for LVC, netting four goals and adding two assists on 11 shots while controlling six draws.
 - Kelley scored three goals on nine shots for the Dutchmen.
 - Federowicz ended with three goals and an assist for four shots.
 - Venezia also tallied three scores and added three assists for six points. She collected a pair of ground balls, caused two turnovers, and controlled three draws.
 - The 2019 MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Year showed why she earned the distinction and held Messiah's offense in check all night. She collected two ground balls, caused a pair of turnovers, and controlled a game-high seven draws.
 - Julia Gabriel caused a team-high three turnovers, scooped up three ground balls, and notched three draw controls.
 - Leah Franklin picked up the win in net after making 10 huge saves.
 - LVC led in total shots (35-28) and shots on goal (25-22).
 - The Dutchmen went 14-for-17 on clears and Messiah was 15-for-20.
 - Total ground balls were even at 13-13.
 - LVC held the edge in draw controls at 19-11..
 
It All Comes Down to This
The Dutchmen will travel to Stevenson University this Saturday, May 4th, for the 2019 MAC Commonwealth Championship game with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament on the line. In these two teams' regular-season meeting, the Mustangs came away with an 11-7 victory back on March 30th.
 
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