Grantham, PA — The public address announcer at Anderson Field had read exactly two names of Albright College's starting lineup Tuesday afternoon before he was interrupted by a jolting clap of thunder.
As both teams scurried for cover, an ensuing electrical storm delayed the start of Messiah's MAC Commonwealth season-opener by an hour and 15 minutes.
In retrospect, it would be the only reprieve the visiting Lions would have.
Messiah — ranked fifth in the latest STX/NFHCA Top 25 Poll — pounded the Albright defensive third to the tune of 45 shots and 24 penalty corners, scoring a season-high nine times in a 9-0 haymaker win. It was the second straight win of such stature for the Falcons, as Messiah (5-1, 1-0) had handed previously unbeaten King's College an 8-0 loss exactly one week earlier on the very same field.
As the storms moved eastward and the skies cleared, there was little that a young Albright team could do to stop the Messiah onslaught.
“In Albright's defense, they started seven freshmen and are still learning a new coach,” said Hall of Fame Falcons' leader Jan Trapp. “We've only got two freshmen on our entire roster. We're top-end heavy. We've got great seniors, juniors and sophomores.
“We're really seeing better and better things out of our kids, no matter who we're playing.”
Trapp's final sentiment was displayed in both the statistical categories — Messiah's 45 shots and 24 corners were both season highs — and in space of play throughout the contest. Rarely did Albright (4-2, 0-1) possess the ball in the Falcons' half of the field, as the Lions recorded no shots nor penalty corners in the game's entirety.
A resulting attack of relentless proportions made the Falcons' goal scoring more a matter of when than if, as sophomore Julie Barton got things going in the 11th minute of play. Taking a pass from sophomore Lauren Tennis, Barton drilled a shot into the baseboards from the top of the circle, her fifth score of the year.
Barton did the helping less than three minutes later, serving a corner from the left side that was eventually blasted into the back of the net by junior Katie Love a score that made it a 2-0 affair at the 13:54 moment.
When Tennis collected the ball and dribbled into the Lions' circle less than a minute later, the rout was officially on. Tennis hammered a laser past Albright keeper Kaitlyn Johnstone at the 14:58 clip, accounting for her third goal on the year.
The combination of senior Nikki Bailey and freshman Kourtney Ehly partnered for Messiah's next two scores, as Bailey took an Ehly assist at the 22:58 juncture and Ehly scored less than four minutes before the half (at the 31:08 mark). When sophomore Lauren Voigt ripped a goal from approximately five yards out at the half's 34:36 mark, the Falcons led by a 6-0 score.
“Our front line played well,” Trapp said. “We made a change to our formation a while back, and the kids took to that right away. We're improvising better and making the most of our opportunities.”
As Trapp emptied her bench liberally in the second half (all available field players saw generous playing time), Messiah's possession dominance did not suffer. The team recorded 21 second-half shots and nine corners, scoring just 1:43 into play. Love took a pass from junior Emily Sauder and put away a shot from the left side, providing her first multiple-goal effort of the season.
Junior Elizabeth Ziegler fired perhaps the highest velocity shot at the 54:57 mark to make it an 8-0 affair; Bailey rounded off the scoring with an unassisted marker at the 56:19 mark.
Junior Ashley Mowery recorded her first shut out of the season in goal, needing no saves and virtually no activity to do it. Albright's Johnstone finished with 23 saves, a number of them on the brilliant side.
“They really paid attention to detail today,” Trapp said of her club. “This could have been a game where it would have been easy to get lazy at times, but we didn't. I thought everyone played well. No one really played poorly. It's nice to have a solid win to start conference play.”
Messiah will next return to ranked competition, as the team will travel to 13th-rated William Smith College Saturday. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
