Box Score

Junior Emily Van Hook scored five goals and dished one assist in Wednesday's blow-out win over Arcadia.
Grantham, PA — A pair of dominant scoring surges led Messiah to a MAC victory over Arcadia University Wednesday, as the Falcons remained unbeaten in league play with a 19-9 decision at Anderson Field.

Messiah (3-3, 2-0) stormed out to a 13-4 lead at the half thanks in large part to scoring eight of the game's first 10 goals. The Falcons then scored six of the second period's first seven tallies, leading by a 19-5 count with just over 10 minutes to play.

Despite those one-sided numbers, second-year head coach Heather Greer said the team could play better.

“We started very flat today,” Greer said. “We need to become better at being more consistent as a whole, approaching every game the same way.”

Perhaps focused on Saturday's upcoming tilt with league-leading Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham, Greer's club needed just over four minutes to break through the Arcadia defense. Sophomore Megan Bovenzi took a feed from junior Emily Van Hook at the 25:55 marker, blasting a shot past Knights' keeper Evelyn Ciaburri for a 1-0 lead. Van Hook would then tack on a pair of unassisted scores at the 21:10 and 20:20 marks, while freshman Rachel Dirksen would come in from the left side for a goal with 18:40 to go in the first period.

It would be the lone score of the day for Messiah's leading goal getter, but that would matter little. Van Hook would go on to score a season-high give goals in the win, while a season-high nine Falcons would score at least one tally.

“We started very flat today and so early on I was looking for players to step up and be that spark to get things going,” Greer said. “Even though we never really got things going in today's game there were some sparks out there. (Senior) Betsy Tyson worked hard defensively, especially in our ride, while Emily Van Hook tried to get things going offensively.”

Messiah caused 23 of Arcadia's 25 turnovers on the afternoon, limiting the Knights to just a 7-15 effort on clears. Senior Brianne Brennan led the way with three forced errors, picking up a game-high six ground balls as well.

With a 13-4 lead in hand, the Falcons salted things away at the start of the second period, scoring six more goals in the first 10 minutes of action. Van Hook got things started with her final score just over three minutes into the half, while freshman Deb Tam, junior Nikki Lawrence, Bovenzi, senior Jackie Dando and freshman Meghan Doolittle chipped in solo scores as well.

Arcadia (2-3, 1-3) was able to finish the game on a 4-0 run, all of which came in the final for minutes of play.

Tam finished with three goals off of five shots, while Bovenzi, Dando, Lawrence and freshman Rachel Coyle each scored a pair. Senior Jen Venter finished with five saves in goal.

“It's always good to get a conference win, but we need to now put this game behind us, move on so we can prepare for Saturday,” Greer said.

Messiah will travel to FDU-Florham Saturday for a key MAC match-up: Along with Elizabethtown College, the teams comprise the remaining unbeatens in league play. Game time is set for 3 p.m.

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