St. Davids, PA — There's wind, and then there's what was happening at Eastern University Wednesday afternoon.
As downed trees knocked out power throughout half of Eastern's campus, the Messiah women's soccer team found a way to score one goal in the midst of a tempest, getting out of the Eagles' Olson Field with a hard-fought, 1-0 decision.
“Not really ideal soccer playing conditions today,” said Scott Frey, Messiah head coach. “Aside from that, though, Eastern is a good, young team. They're better than their record indicates, but a lot of that is because they're young and they're just starting to really come together. They're well coached, and they played very hard. It felt like we were under constant pressure. We never had a chance to relax.”
Sustained gusts of 40 miles per hour did not help matters for either side, as Messiah won the coin toss and elected to go with the wind for the game's first 45 minutes.
That decision paid dividends just eight minutes in, when junior Erin Hench made a run down the right side of the field, receiving a pass from classmate Joanna Haqq.
Hench slotted the ball back to the top of the 18-yard box, where senior Amanda Naeher was making a run. Naeher was able to take a touch and then blast a 12-yard rocket that beat Eastern freshman goalkeeper Alysia Goodman to the far post at the 7:57 mark, permanently changing the landscape of the game.
“Obviously, it was huge to get that one early, especially in these conditions,” Frey said. “We got in several times after that, but we were never able to get that second goal. We had some chances, but we couldn't finish.”
Ranked atop both the latest NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 and D3soccer.com Top 25 Polls, Messiah (11-0-1) controlled the majority of possession throughout the game, but could register just 13 total shots — a season-low mark.
Eight of Messiah's efforts were on goal, but Goodman came up with seven saves.
“We hit it on frame, it wasn't like we were missing,” Frey said. “We just didn't have any real putaways, and didn't really force (Goodman) to make an really outstanding (saves).”
Despite going into the wind during the second half, Frey's club still outshot Eastern (5-5) by a 5-3 count in the final 45 minutes of play, giving the Eagles no real chances to knot the game up. The hosts finished with five total shots and three corner kicks on the afternoon, but the Falcons' back line stood firm, recording the team's eighth shutout of the season.
“I thought our back four really played well,” Frey said. “With the wind, trying to read it, they really kept things clean. During the run of play, I didn't feel Eastern had any really good opportunities, and that was big. With only a 1-0 lead, it's always tenuous. You know they're just a goal away.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Autumn Reilly finished with two saves in the Messiah frame, while Naeher and senior Amy Horst paced the Falcons' offense with four and three shots, respectively.
Messiah can only hope for a bit more calm conditions this weekend, as the team will resume Commonwealth Conference play at Widener University. The Pride currently boast a 10-1-1 record overall. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
