Annville, PA — Saturday afternoon at MAC Commonwealth foe and eighth-ranked Lebanon Valley College, the fourth-rated Messiah field hockey program came up with an early push and a late surge.
And it was enough.
Messiah (8-1, 2-0) used a goal from sophomore Julie Barton with 1:44 remaining in regulation to capture a 4-3 win over its league rivals, needing a two-goal comeback after falling behind by a 3-2 score midway though the second half. Lebanon Valley (10-2, 1-1) scored three straight times to thwart an early 2-0 Messiah lead, but the Falcons responded by finishing stronger to stay perfect in league play.
“This team is a tenacious bunch,” said Jan Trapp, Messiah head coach. “They're a great group of girls with a never-say-die attitude. Lebanon Valley is a really fine team. We showed a lot of confidence this afternoon. I am proud of the way we responded.”
Playing on grass for the only time during regular-season play, it was Trapp's club that opened the game boldly. A rebound score from senior Nikki Bailey just 5:51 in was complemented by a give-and-go combination from junior Emily Sauder to sophomore Lauren Tennis at the 9:50 mark, and Messiah was running away with things.
LVC responded with a goal at the 21:16 mark to close within a 2-1 difference, and Messiah stayed ahead thanks to a missed penalty stroke shot from the hosts just moments before halftime.
“What you had today was three games within this one game,” Trapp said. “I thought we possessed the first game, they possessed the second and we possessed the end. I thought our intensity really dropped off after our first two scores. We got a little flat. Even at halftime, I didn't think we went out with the same energy that we had at the start of the game. We were doing a lot of standing and reaching, and LVC took advantage of that.”
The Dutchmen tacked on two scores separated by just 1:30 midway through the second half (55:10 and 56:40), while an apparent timeout call from Trapp went unheeded by game officials following LVC's equalizer.
Trapp finally was rewarded a timeout following the Dutchmen's third goal of the day — with her club down by a 3-2 margin.
“That (timeout) was really the changing point for us,” Trapp said. “After that, the girls really went out ripping. We put on a lot of pressure. We weren't shooting enough in that dead part of the game. We kept looking to pass, looking for better shots. After we got down, though, we became very intense.”
Freshman Kilee Rosenberry scored her second collegiate goal just minutes following Messiah's deliberation, taking a corner from Bailey to notch the score at 3-3 with 59:10 elapsed.
That set the stage for Barton's heroics, as the sophomore transfer collected the ball at midfield and weaved her way to the top of the circle before blasting the game winner at the 68:16 mark.
“I just knew Julie was going to score, as soon as she got the ball,” Trapp said. “I don't know why, but I just knew it. We've seen it from her so many times before. She has a knack (for scoring) in that part of the field.”
Lebanon Valley finished with an impressive advantage in most offensive categories, totaling 20 shots to Messiah's 10 and 15 corners to the Falcons' 10. Junior Ashley Mowery finished with a season-high 12 saves in goal.
“I felt the difference in shots was mainly due to the fact that when LVC was in our circle, they got off quite a few shots off of rebounds,” Trapp said. “I felt we had the ball in their circle equally as much, though. And when we got it in their circle, we were dangerous with our opportunities.”
Trapp said she was pleased with her squad's overall performance on natural grass, as the team practiced just two times on that surface earlier in the week. She also said the squad will spend a reasonable amount of time in the video room come Monday's practice.
“We're excited and anxious for the team to watch the (game) tape to see the transition from when we played well to when we played poorly to when we played well,” she said. “It's almost going to require no words from us as coaches. They'll see exactly the difference.”
Perhaps a factor in the final outcome was Messiah's experience against top-notch teams, as #8 LVC was the fifth squad ranked among the nation's top 13 the Falcons have faced this season.
“I do think our comeback win against (then second-ranked) Salisbury (University) gave us some confidence to do what we did today,” Trapp said. “We pride ourselves on playing a difficult schedule for this exact reason.”
Things will get no easier for the fourth-ranked Falcons next, as the team will host 15th-ranked Gettysburg College Tuesday at 7 p.m. That contest will be compounded with two more Top 25 clubs in Messiah's following three games, as 14th-rated Elizabethtown College and second-ranked College of New Jersey will both visit Anderson Field before the month of October is complete.
