Grantham, PA — It was a win-win situation for the Messiah field hockey program Saturday morning, as the Falcons dispatched Eastern University 3-0 in NCAA Second Round play — constituting the program's 500th win in its 46-year history.
Messiah — the nation's top-ranked team in the final STX/NFCHA Top 20 Poll — out shot the Eagles by a 24-7 difference while ripping off 21 penalty corners to the visitors' eight, and will next face 11th-ranked Rowan University in Sunday's Third Round contest at Anderson Field. The Profs won a wet and wild affair over 12th-rated Trinity College in Saturday's other Second Round contest, coming back from a 4-0 deficit to claim a 5-4, rain-suspended, overtime win in thrilling fashion.
The day's first contest belonged to Messiah (16-1) from start to finish, as sophomore and MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year Kourtney Ehly turned a pair of feeds from classmate Julie Barton into a 2-0 lead just 22 minutes into play. Senior Nikki Bailey then finished things off midway through the second period, as the Falcons bettered a 3-1 win at Eastern Sept. 9 with Saturday's result.
“I thought we played pretty well this morning, and almost everyone on our roster got a taste of NCAA Tournament play,” said Messiah head coach Jan Trapp, “but there are aspects of our game that we need to do better tomorrow if we want to continue to advance.”
Trapp's club successfully defended an early push from Eastern (14-7), as the Eagles recorded all four of their first-half corners in a span of just 1:11. Messiah responded with 11 straight corner opportunities throughout the remainder of the period, helping to Ehly's first score at the 16:04 mark. As junior Katie Love served the ball in from the left side, Barton worked the ball into the sweet. Diving to her right, Barton hooked an effort past Eastern goalkeeper Laura Ressler, only for the ball to be deflected to Ehly's stick.
Staying poised in traffic, Ehly guided the ball into the baseboard for her 11th career goal.
She would tack on her 12th just over six minutes later, this time camping at the right post following another corner attempt at the 22:09 mark. Barton ripped a diagonal serve to Ehly, who one-touched it past Ressler for the 2-0 advantage — a lead that would last through halftime.
It appeared as if Ehly would get her first career hat trick less than 10 minutes into the second stanza, as the athletic forward fired another shot into the cage from the right wing following a nice build up from the midfield. The officials ruled Ehly guided the ball her body, however, nullifying the apparent score to the dismay of the crowd.
Those groans quickly dissipated following Bailey's score at the 53:57 moment, as the senior captain sent a crafty sweep from the center of the field to provide the final margin. Eastern would attempt one corner in the game's final 16 minutes, but Messiah would control the majority of possession, recording five corners during the same time frame.
Barton finished as Messiah's leader in total shots, registering eight to go with her two assists. Bailey and Love each recorded four, while junior Ashley Mowery finished with six saves in goal.
“I was pleased with our possession game today, but anytime a team has corner opportunities it can be dangerous,” Trapp said. “If there's anybody that is ready to handle a direct shot off a corner, it's Ashley. (Eastern's corners) were really the only time we felt much pressure, but they work very hard to get a lot of corners.”
Saturday's win was the 500th in program history, while Trapp (who has led the team in 481 of those victories over the past 36 years) took time to ponder exactly what that number meant.
“I think it's awesome that so many players from such a long time period have played an equal part in helping us to get here,” she said. “That's an awful lot of people that have played a part in this, and that's what makes it so special. It's a great tradition here, and it's like the saying goes, 'success breeds success.' You're talking about over 700 women that have been a part of this program. It's a powerful idea to think about.”
Rowan is next up for the storied program, as Messiah will look to avenge its lone loss of the season — a 1-3 defeat to the Profs back on Sept. 13. Rowan advanced to Sunday's contest after giving up four goals to Trinity (12-5) in the first 24 minutes of Saturday's second game, slowly climbing back to force overtime against the Bantams. A 20-minute rain delay did little to slow the comeback, as Rowan (15-4) tied things up on a penalty stroke with just under 15 minutes to play in regulation. The Profs' Amanda Greene then ripped a shot from the right wing with just under eight minutes elapsed in the first overtime to send Rowan to the next round.
“Our girls are really anxious to play Rowan,” Trapp said Saturday afternoon. “Considering we had so many corners in the second half the first time we played them (Messiah had 17), we feel confident going in. Rowan is a very dangerous team because they are very fast. They get down the field quickly and turn a lot of fast breaks into goals. As it always is when we meet up, it should be a great game.”
Rowan and Messiah will clash tomorrow at Anderson Field for the right to advance to next weekend's Final Four at Ursinus College. Game time is set for 1 p.m. Tickets for all NCAA post-season events are $6 for adults, $3 for students with I.D. and senior citizens and $2 for children ages three to 12. Children under three years of age are admitted free.
