Grantham, PA — Whoever said the two-minute drill was only used in football?
Messiah penned field hockey meaning to the vernacular Tuesday night, scoring thrice in a span of 1:55 to eventually hand 15th-ranked Gettysburg College a 3-1 defeat at Shoemaker Field.
The Falcons — ranked third in the latest STX/NFHCAA Top 25 Poll — used a microburst of scores at the 11:52, 12:54 and 13:47 marks to fuel its offense for the entire evening, enough to hold off a late Bullets' push that seemed to gain momentum through the second half.
And for as exciting as Messiah's two minutes of fury may have been to watch, Hall of Fame head coach Jan Trapp seemed a bigger fan of consistency afterward.
“You always have to be happy with a win, but I didn't think we had a very strong second half,” Trapp said. “Make no mistake, we were very, very good in the first half, but we didn't finish with the intensity that I'd like us to. If we want to go where we want to eventually go this year, that has to change.”
Facing its sixth ranked opponent of the season, things look particularly good for Messiah (9-1) early on. Senior Nikki Bailey got the scoring going just over 11 minutes in, banging a shot from just off the goal line to give her club a 1-0 lead at the 11:52 mark.
Bailey notched her 11th goal of the year just 58 seconds later, taking a feed from junior Jenna Max and slotting a laser past Gettysburg keeper Christina Anderson's outstretched leg.
When sophomore Lauren Tennis blasted a rebound shot into the back of the cage just 53 ticks later, Messiah had a 3-0 lead and all the momentum one could hope for.
“Nikki was very good tonight,” Trapp said. “I thought that we kept coming at them throughout the first half and we even started the second half alright, but after a couple times of not getting a goal for (our efforts), the intensity started lacking.”
With Gettysburg (8-5) entering the game riding a six-game road winning streak and facing its sixth ranked opponent of the season as well, the Bullets eventually responded. After being out-shot by a 14-2 count in the first half while giving up a 10-1 disparity in penalty corners, Gettysburg came back to out-fire Messiah by a 3-2 difference in second-half shots and a 5-1 discrepancy in second-period corners.
As the majority of play shifted from the Bullets' defensive third to the midfield, the visitors were able to tack on a well-placed score at the 62:20 mark — Falcons' junior goalkeeper Ashley Mowery's only blemish on a three-save evening.
And while the outcome was never in serious peril, Trapp said that her staff must find an answer to the team's occasional moments of complacency.
“Tonight was very similar to the lapse we had in the middle of the game against Lebanon Valley,” Trapp said. “We can't seem to put our finger on it right now. Regardless of whether or not we have a lead, there should always be that level of intensity (that we expect). I thought that (junior defender) Mary Hoover had just an awesome game for us. And there were others, but it wasn't everyone. In the second half, we were just a mixture. We weren't hitting on all cylinders. We've got to get back to that type of play for an entire game.”
Messiah will return to MAC Commonwealth play next, as the team will host Arcadia University during the school's Homecoming Weekend Saturday. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
