Reading, PA – The No. 1 Messiah field hockey team took an early lead off a Carissa Gehman goal in the eighth minute and added two late goals to defeat previously unbeaten Alvernia University on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the win, the Falcons move to 14-1 on the season and 6-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. Alvernia falls to 16-1 and 5-1 in the conference.
 
The Falcons outshot the Crusaders 20-5 (12-5 on goal), and they had a 13–6 advantage in corners. Alvernia's Rebecca Brosius recorded six saves in goal to Shelby Landes' five.
 
In the eighth minute, Moriah Pfautz intercepted an attempted clear by the Crusader defense and sent the ball in to Gehman, who knocked it home to give the Falcons the early one goal lead. It was Gehman's team-leading 19th goal of the season.
 
In the 33rd minute, the Falcons earned a penalty corner that was sent in to Gehman on the left side. She decided to take it herself and went around a defender and fired a shot that was saved by Brosius. The rebound dropped to Nicole Wilkerson, who lofted a shot that cleared Brosius but was saved at the last second by Kirsten Myer, who knocked it out of the air and away from goal.
 
Messiah took a 1-0 lead into the break, outshooting Alvernia 8-1 (5-1 on goal). They also earned seven corners in the period to the Crusaders' zero. Alvernia received two yellow cards in the half.
 
Three minutes into the second-half, Messiah had a great opportunity to extend their lead when Kristin Donohue brought the ball into the circle from the right side and ripped a shot that was knocked down by Brosius. The ball fell in front of a wide-open cage and sat there for a couple seconds, but there were no Falcons in the right place at the right time to tap it in before an Alvernia defender was able to clear.
 
At the 62:28 mark, Messiah earned their 11th penalty corner of the contest. Taylor Holt sent the ball in to Gehman at the top of the box, who ripped a shot that was deflected and fell to Holt just as she was coming back onto the field from the corner. She took full advantage of the opportunity, slamming the ball home for her ninth goal of the season.
 
Just two minutes later on another penalty corner, Holt sent the ball to Loht on the left side, who tried to loft it over the defense. Pfautz alertly realized the ball was not going on goal, and reached up and swatted it out of the air and into the top of the cage to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead with just over five minutes to play.
 
Despite giving up six penalty corners in the second-half to the Crusaders, Messiah's defense held strong and completed the shutout, which was Landes' sixth of the season.
 
Carissa Gehman finished with one goal and one assist on five shots and Moriah Pfautz added a goal and an assist on four shots to lead the Falcons.
 
With the victory, Messiah extends their winning streak over Alvernia to 12 games, having won every meeting between the two teams.
 
Messiah next travels to Frederick, Md. to take on Hood College on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 4:00 p.m.