As the Messiah women’s soccer team stepped off the field in San Antonio on Saturday night after a crushing 2-1 defeat to Hardin Simmons in the NCAA championship game, the MAC fall 2010 season came to a close. As usual, conference teams showed well in the national and regional arena, with Messiah again enjoying spectacular results in men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey.

Messiah women’s soccer (24-1), ranked #1 for the season, was only challenged seriously in their two games with Johns Hopkins until they ran into Hardin Simmons. The Cowgirls scored two goals in the first six minutes of play, and despite holding the ball the entire second half, the Falcons couldn’t push by the equalizer. Although disappointed that they didn’t grab their third national title in a row, this group of seniors, led by 2008 National Player of the Year Amanda Naeher, did end up with two national championships and two national runner-ups. For most programs, that would have been an unbelievable record. In the Freedom Conference, Manhattanville (4-14-3) won enough conference games to get into the tournament and then knocked off two-time champion Eastern and high powered Fairleigh Dickinson to capture the conference crown and qualify for the NCAA’s. Misericordia, Lebanon Valley, Alvernia, and Fairleigh Dickinson all qualified for the ECAC’s with the Crusaders and Devils making it to the semi-final round.

Elizabethtown cross country recorded the best season for the MAC in decades. After capturing the MAC championship at Delaware Valley where the men took eight of the top ten spots, the Blue Jay harriers finished 14th at the NCAA meet at Wartburg, Iowa. Although the women had a tougher time winning the conference than the men, they had a higher finish (11th) at nationals. Three top MAC performers qualified for the NCAA meet at the Slippery Rock regional race. Tyler Newhook, Messiah junior, who won the MAC race in 2009, took 89th at Wartburg. Jenn Cronin, Lebanon Valley senior, took second at the MAC meet and just missed All-America with a 41th place finish in the NCAA’s. Delaware Valley’s standout senior runner, Caitlin Dorgan, won seven straight races (including the MAC title), missed winning regional’s by a nose, and earned All-America honors with a 28th place finish in Iowa.

Messiah men’s soccer (23-1) earned their eighth national championship with an overtime 2-1 win over a very tenacious Lynchburg side. Although the semi-final score against Wisconsin - Oshkosh looked lopsided (4-1), the Falcons had to battle the entire game - with four minutes to go, the score could have been 2-2 on a missed chance by the underdog Titans. In the championship game, Messiah did not score until the 87th minute to force the overtime. The Falcons also had to go into overtime in the second round against Montclair to come away with another 2-1 win. DeSales (15-5-2), Freedom Conference champions, battled Swarthmore to a 2-1 loss at the Quakers field. Lebanon Valley, Misericordia, and Fairleigh Dickinson qualified for the ECAC tournament. The Cougars advanced to the semi-final game.

Three of the final eight NCAA championship field hockey team hailed from the MAC. Eastern (20-3) was denied a trip to the Final Four when Skidmore outlasted them 4-3, and Bowdoin, the host and eventual national champion, had to go to overtime to beat 19-3 Lebanon Valley 4-3. This was not a good draw for the Dutchmen who had been ranked in the top two most of the season and had to travel 496 miles to the regional site. Messiah (19-3) cruised through their three first opponents, outscoring them15-1, before getting locked up in a defensive struggle with Bowdoin at Christopher Newport. The Bears emerged with a 2-1 win after overtime and strokes. Alvernia and Fairleigh Dickinson had postseason opportunities in the ECAC tournament.

Eastern volleyball (30-5) had knocked off several top ten teams in the regular season, but ended up traveling to a regional that included two of them (Colorado College and host Christopher Newport). The Eagles easily won the first round against Richard Stockton before falling to the hosts 3-2 after being up 2-1. Lebanon Valley won a third straight Commonwealth Championship and then earned their first NCAA tournament win by beating Ithaca 3-1; the next day they lost 3-0 to former conference foe, and perennial national power, Juniata (lost 3-2 in the semi-final round to eventual national champion Calvin). DeSales and Fairleigh Dickinson each played in the ECAC tournament with the Devils winning their bracket.

Until losing to Widener in the last regular season football game by a point, Delaware Valley had dominated the MAC. That loss set them up for the unenviable prospect of playing Mount Union, the best program in Division III over the past 15 years, in the second round. After dealing with Salisbury at home 23-12 in the first round, the Aggies headed out to Alliance, Ohio. After giving up an 81 yard touchdown run to the Purple Raiders on their first play of the game, DVC shut them out until the two minute mark of the second quarter. At that point, with the score 7-0, the Aggies had a first and goal on the two and looked to be heading to the locker room with a7-7 tie. Instead, in the next two minutes, a bad penalty and long kickoff return resulted in a 14-3 halftime score. In the second half the DVC defense did their job, but the offense was hampered by the injury to Matt Cook, MAC offensive player of the year. Although the Aggies lost, the Mount had to battle the entire game. Wilkes and Lebanon Valley received ECAC Bowl bids against Centennial foes Moravian and Johns Hopkins, but neither MAC squad prevailed.

For the first time, both individual tennis tournaments were conducted at the King’s/Wilkes courts in October. The Wilkes women dominated the tournament by winning all nine titles. In the men’s competition, Wilkes won four titles (#4, #5, and #6 singles and #2 doubles), Manhattanville captured three medals (#2 singles, and #1 and #3 doubles), and Eastern (#3 singles) and Elizabethtown (#1 singles) each won a bracket.

And with that, we are now heavily into basketball, swimming, and indoor track & field.