Grantham, PA — In retrospect, the most valuable players of Saturday's NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Sectional Round may have very well been the Messiah College grounds crew.
Following a series of Friday snow squalls that left nearly two inches of snow sitting peacefully on Shoemaker Field, Messiah's personnel spent the better part of six hours prepping the pitch for play, painstakingly blowing snow and dragging the turf for a pair of NCAA Tournament games scheduled to be played beginning Saturday morning.
And while those contests were pushed back an hour to accommodate the snow removal needs, things went off without a hitch.
Of course, it helped that Messiah dispatched the University of Chicago by a 4-1 score, advancing to Sunday's sectional final to face Eastern University (who defeated the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point by a 1-0 tally in the day's other sectional semi-final).
“I thought they (the grounds crew) did a great job out here,” said Scott Frey, Messiah head coach. “It may have shown a little bit when people tried to cut the ball or turn quickly, but I thought the field played well and was not a major issue.”
As it turned out, neither was the play of the Falcons, as Messiah — ranked second in the final NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 Poll — ripped off its 14 consecutive win on a windy, blustery day in Grantham, Pa. Sophomore Erin Hench began a four-goal parade just 14:51 in, as Chicago (13-6-2) tacked on its only goal with just 11:18 remaining in regulation — a moot score by all accounts.
Messiah (21-0-2) faced the daunting task of going directly into sustained winds of 20 miles an hour during the first half of play, but that proved little difference. Hench received a pass from senior Rachel Horning at the 14th minute mark and drilled a shot that hit and then went through the attempted save of Maroons' keeper Polly Cline.
Freshman Olivia Scott then made it a 2-0 affair at the 41:09 mark, taking a feed from Hench on the right flank and somehow squeezing a shot between Cline and the right post, giving Messiah a comfortable cushion at the intermission.
That goal helped ease some nerves following a major scare from Chicago 34:29 moment, when Maroons' forward Sarah Loh laced a shot that required a full-length diving save from Messiah senior goalkeeper Brindley Beckwith.
“To get one early like that was a goal, but to get two going into the wind was more than we could have hoped for,” Frey said. “Chicago proved they were dangerous. A one-goal lead wasn't going to get it done today.”
Frey's club added two more goals at the 64:46 and 76:37 marks, respectively, ending any doubt about the outcome. Junior Amanda Naeher scored her team-leading 31st goal in the 64th minute, taking an offering from sophomore Joanna Haqq and lacing a left-footed rope into the right side of the net to make it a 3-0 game. A bizarre sequence then led to Messiah's final goal of the match, as freshman Lisa Wingard crossed the ball into the middle of the box at the 76:37 mark. Classmate Rachel Loya fired a shot on frame, only for the ball to be deflected off the heel of sophomore Marla Sensi.
Without that deflection, Loya's shot most likely would have been stopped. It was Sensi's fifth goal of the season. Wingard and Loya were credited the double-assist.
As most of Messiah's reserves manned the field for the final 15 minutes of play, Chicago was able to slip one past Beckwith, as the Maroons' Claire Denz scored an unassisted goal at the 78:42 mark. Messiah out-shot Chicago by a 13-8 count on the afternoon, though the Falcons did give up eight corner kicks (while attempting four).
“I thought the player of the match, without question, was Brindley,” said Frey. “Not only her saves (she finished with four) but her play in the air. There were a lot of dangerous balls that she just pulled down and ended. I thought our back row once again was very good, and I thought Rachel Loya came in and played really well. The key is we have to do it again. You can't get too excited. We've got to come back and do it again tomorrow.”
Messiah will now face a familiar opponent, as rival Eastern defeated UW-Stevens Point by a 1-0 score in Saturday's late game. The Eagles have won 12 consecutive games of their own and are in the midst of making their deepest post-season run in program history — all in only their second NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.
The Falcons defeated Eastern by a 2-0 score on Shoemaker Field Oct. 8.
“They're familiar, they're well-coached and they're just out playing, having a good time,” Frey said of the Eagles. “It's new to them and it's fun. They're defending well. We'll have to play our best. It's always a good game when we meet up.”
Sunday's sectional final — and a right to advance to the Final Four — is set to take place at 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.
