Annville, PA – The No. 1 Messiah field hockey team ran their winning streak to 10 games on Saturday evening, receiving a hat trick from Moriah Pfautz on the way to a 4-0 victory over Lebanon Valley College.
 
The Falcons held the advantage in shots (23-4), shots on goal (18-2), and penalty corners (10-3). Shelby Landes saved the only two shots that were put on goal by LVC, and the Dutchmen received six saves from starting goalie Sarah DiMaggio, five from Victoria Bydeley who took over at halftime, and had three defensive saves.
 
With the win, Messiah spoiled the Dutchmen's homecoming and moved to 10-1 on the season and 3-0 in MAC Commonwealth play. LVC fell to 8-4 and 1-2 in the conference.
 
LVC played tough defense for the first 25 minutes, swarming the Falcons every time they brought the ball into the circle. In the 11th minute, Messiah had a great chance off a penalty corner. The ball was sent in to Nicole Wilkerson at the top of the circle, who fired a shot that evaded the Dutchmen goalie but was turned away at the goal line by Rachel Gorman, earning the defensive save.
 
In the 26th minute, the Falcons gained another penalty corner and took full advantage of the opportunity. Taylor Holt sent the ball in to Wilkerson above the circle, who touched it over to Pfautz on the left side. She gathered and ripped a low liner that made its way through a crowd of Dutchmen and past the right post for her seventh goal of the year.
 
Just three minutes later, Carissa Gehman picked a defender's pocket on the right side and passed to Pfautz at the top of the circle. DiMaggio came out to challenge Pfautz, who lofted a shot over the Dutchmen goalie's head and into the wide-open cage to increase the Falcon lead to two.
 
Messiah was not done scoring in the first-half, though, as with two minutes remaining Kristin Donohue brought the ball down the center of the field and sent it towards the front of the cage. A defender tried to clear it, but deflected the ball right to Gehman, who took it to the right side and snuck a shot right through the goalie's legs for her team-leading 14th goal of the season.
 
After scoring three times in the last ten minutes of the period, Messiah took a comfortable 3-0 lead into the break. The Falcons recorded 13 shots (eight on goal) to LVC's two (one on goal).
 
In the 47th minute, Pfautz decided that it was time for her 5th career hat trick. She stole the ball from a Dutchman player near midfield and took it down the center towards goal. With just a defender and the goalie to beat, she sidestepped the defender and blasted a shot from the right side that slipped by Bydeley's leg and past the left post for the goal.
 
Messiah kept the pressure on throughout the rest of the game, keeping the ball on the offensive end for the majority of the time but failing to add a fifth goal. The best chance came in the 55th minute when a penalty was called on LVC in the circle, giving Messiah a penalty stroke. Gehman tried to put it in the bottom right corner, but Bydeley saw it all the way and got her leg in front for the save.
 
Pfautz was the star of the contest, scoring her three goals on six shots, all of which were on target. Gehman added five shots with one goal and one assist, while Wilkerson chipped in two shots and an assist.
 
After three-straight road contests, the Falcons return home on Wednesday, Oct. 12 to face Albright College under the lights of Anderson Field at 7:00 p.m.