Grantham, PA — It may not have been a primary objective, but the Messiah College women's soccer team made head coach Scott Frey a prophet following its 4-0 win over Widener University Saturday afternoon at Shoemaker Field.
At Friday's practice, Frey said that his team worked on taking advantage of restarts and shoring up its back row defense.
Fast forward to Saturday, and the fruits of those efforts were palpable: Messiah (10-0-2, 1-0) scored all four of its goals off of restart opportunities, while the team prevented Widener (5-4-1, 0-1) from registering either a shot or a corner kick, only the second time this season the Falcons kept both slates clean in a single contest.
“We did a good job executing the types of things we worked on (in practice Friday),” Frey said wryly. “Our back row was very good. Today was a game where we didn't give them many opportunities, and that was good to see.”
The first MAC Commonwealth Conference match of 2008 for both sides, it was clear that Saturday's contest would be a Falcons' possession game from the start. Widener packed its defense well behind the midfield line for the duration, hoping to thwart a potent Messiah attack from all angles.
That strategy served its purpose until the 19th minute, when a throw-in from senior Rachel Horning eventually led to the Falcons' first tally of the day. Horning dazzled the crowd with one of her patented flip throws at the top of Widener's 18-yard box, only for the ball to be headed backward by junior Amanda Naeher.
Senior Kacie Klynstra settled the ball and fired a looping shot toward the Pride frame, an effort that was slapped back into the field of play from Widener keeper Alee Gunter. Naeher was in the right place at the right time, taking Gunter's deflection and slamming the ball into the back of the net from point-blank range at the 19:35 mark.
“We worked on taking advantage of restarts (in practice Friday) because we knew it was going to be a challenge getting through their defense,” Frey said. “We were able to do that today.”
And while Frey's club would have to settle for a 1-0 lead through halftime, the team's corner kick offense shifted into high gear during the latter 45 minutes. Sophomore Erin Hench added to the lead at the 59:03 mark, taking a gorgeous serve from Horning and volleying a shot just inside the far post. Just over 15 minutes later it was sophomore Molly Bletz delivering a corner opportunity, curving a ball that went through the majority of the box before being being blasted into the net by freshman defender Kelsey Gorman, her first collegiate goal.
Messiah concluded its scoring with just under 10 minutes to play, as sophomore Sarah Henningsen was the beneficiary of a corner delivered from classmate Katie Hoffsmith. Hoffsmith's ball was batted around violently inside the Pride goal mouth, appearing to roll across the end line before being batted out by a Widener defender.
Henningsen was there for her first collegiate score off the deflection, however, driving the ball into the back of the net from just a yard off the end line at the 80:31 mark.
Messiah finished with a total 27 shots and 11 corner kicks on the afternoon, holding an opponent to zeroes in both categories for the first time since a 7-0 win over Centenary College Sept. 6.
“Attack-wise, we did an alright job today,” Frey said. “It's really difficult to get through (a stacked defense), but we did a good job of being dangerous at times. We did a good job of making the most of those restart opportunities, which proved to be important.”
The Falcons will take a one-game hiatus from MAC Commonwealth play next, as the team will host always-dangerous Eastern University Wednesday at Shoemaker. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
