Grantham, PA — Saturday afternoon's contest against ninth-ranked Ithaca College may not have started off the way Messiah head coach Scott Frey had hoped, but he didn't seem too displeased at the conclusion.
Messiah responded from an early 1-0 deficit to claim a 4-1 win over the Bombers at Shoemaker Field, proving that the top-ranked Falcons aren't just front-runners.
“I thought we played a good game against a good opponent, and it was good to see how we responded to a little adversity,” Frey said. “I thought we responded really well (after their score), and our energy was good. All in all, I was very pleased.”
Messiah — ranked number one in the NSCAA/Adidas Pre-Season Top 25 Poll — opened the game with possession control, but a counter in the seventh minute from Ithaca — ranked ninth — proved costly. The Bombers were awarded a corner kick at the 7:34 mark, and four seconds later had a 1-0 lead. Ithaca senior Liz Massuci served a gorgeous ball into the box at the near post, and Bombers' freshman midfielder Julie Winn was there to flick a perfect header into the upper 90, far post — well out of reach of sophomore goalkeeper Autumn Reilly.
Messiah was staring at its first deficit in nine games — over 884 minutes of game play.
“We're at them right from the start attacking, and they get it down (on our end) the first time, get a corner and head it in,” Frey mused. “You never want to give up a goal or be down, but I was interested to see how we'd respond. I was very encouraged.”
By all accounts, Messiah (3-0) seemed to up its collective effort following the game's initial tally, eventually running a 23-4 advantage in total shots over Ithaca (1-1).
Junior Joanna Haqq was a big part of the Falcons' energy surge, repeatedly making runs from her right winger position. Those efforts were rewarded at the 18:50 mark, when Haqq beat two defenders on the flank and fired a shot in front of a third, only for the ball to be deflected back to her feet.
Haqq wasted no time in scooping up the rebound, blasting another shot that beat Ithaca junior keeper Alyss Sotomayor low and away, knotting the score up at 1-1 and setting off a smile-filled hugfest of Falcons.
“To be behind really hurts, but even, that's a completely different story,” Frey said. “You know you just need one more. That's a strength of this group, though, in that we have the ability to score goals. It certainly helped us to get it back before halftime.”
Messiah and Ithaca went into the intermission deadlocked at one apiece despite Messiah's growing consumption of ball control, as Frey's team rattled off 13 shots and seven corner kicks in the first 45 minutes of play to Ithaca's two and one, respectively.
It took just 25 seconds of the second half for Frey's team to capture a lead it would not relinquish.
Junior Erin Hench collected the ball following the opening tap and worked her way to the top of the Bombers' 18-yard box, battling a trio of defenders in an effort to get a look at goal. The ball then deflected off to the right where an unmarked Olivia Scott was waiting, and the sophomore calmly blasted the ball into the right side of the goal from eight yards away.
“Erin did the work on that goal,” Frey said. “She did a great job of holding a girl off and giving Obes (Scott) a chance to finish.”
Now with a 2-1 lead in hand, Frey's club would simply not let up. Continual pushes toward the Ithaca frame were met with only a handful of Bombers' counter-attacks – pushes that the Messiah back line of junior Katie Hoffsmith, sophomore Kelsey Gorman and seniors Molly Bletz and Carey Cortese handled with calming efficiency.
Hoffsmith then initiated Messiah's third goal at the 59:09 mark, sending a deep cross to a running Hench, who finished her first score of the season in artistic fashion. Collecting Hoffsmith's ball at an angle, Hench got past the last line of Bombers' defenders and chipped in a beauty of a shot with her right foot, running back to Hoffsmith with lowered arms in classic Hench-celebration mode.
It was Hoffsmith's second assist of the young season from her right back position.
Messiah would finalize its scoring with just under 15 minutes to play, as freshman Corinne Wulf notched her second collegiate goal, finishing a cross from senior Amy Horst and beating both Sotomayor and a Bombers defender en route to tapping in on an empty net.
It was Wulf's third shot on goal of the affair, equaling the team high in that category along with senior Amanda Naeher.
“This was another great test to see where we're at,” Frey said. “I think (Ithaca) was a little nicked up with some injuries, so that hindered their ability to really come at us the way they're capable. They've got speed up front and an idea (of how to attack). But that's where our depth really paid off immensely. We were able to keep fresh legs in there, and I think being down a bit hurt them.”
Messiah now looks forward to another intriguing opponent, as Johns Hopkins University will visit Shoemaker Field Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The Blue Jays were one of two teams to finish in a scoreless tie with the Falcons last season, getting that result Sept. 10 at JHU's Homewood Field.
“We're back to it on Wednesday,” Frey said. “I think the girls are looking forward to that one. We all are.”
