Box Score
Grantham, PA — For a game featuring two giants in NCAA Division III field hockey, Sunday's NCAA Third Round contest at Anderson Field was something perhaps no one expected:
A sleeper.
Messiah used a 26-4 advantage in total shots and a 21-2 disparity in penalty corners to race past visiting Salisbury University by a 4-1 score, advancing to the program's 14th appearance in an NCAA National Semi-Final and third consecutive.
After falling to the Sea Gulls by a 1-0 count in the 2009 national championship game, Messiah (18-2) made certain there would be no repeat heartbreak in an effort to return, coming back from an early 1-0 deficit en route to its 35th consecutive win on its home turf.
“Messiah's a great team, and we wish them well,” said longtime Salisbury head coach Dawn Chamberlin afterward. “The way they're putting things together right now, they have the ability to get their national championship. I hope they get it.”
Despite dominating the run of play from the opening whistle, it was the Falcons that found themselves down just over seven minutes in, as Salisbury's Katy Lamboni flipped in a shot through a scrum of bodies at the 7:13 mark, putting the Sea Gulls in front by a 1-0 count.
It was an eerily familiar feeling for Messiah, as Salisbury (16-4) utilized a goal just 3:33 into last year's national title contest — holding onto the lone score for the program's fourth championship.
Sunday at Anderson Field had a slightly different feel, however, as the Falcons had already ripped off six shots and three penalty corners before Lamboni's marker, making a Messiah goal seem more a matter of 'when' than 'if.'
“I don't think (last year's championship game) crossed our minds,” said Jan Trapp, Messiah head coach. “We had so many early opportunities today, we felt it was a matter of getting the right corner in. Our girls kept their composure (after Lamboni's score). It was like, 'It's not going to happen to us again.'”
It certainly was not, as Trapp's club notched the equalizer just over eight minutes later. Following Messiah's seventh penalty corner of the day, sophomore Natalie Ziegler sent a chest-high rocket into the cage, beating Sea Gulls' junior keeper Anna Cooke to the far post off a feed from senior Julie Barton.
The Falcons nearly put the go-ahead score on the board four minutes after Ziegler's tally, but a redirect from freshman Brooke Sands sailed just wide of the right post at the 19:21 mark. Had she been able to connect, it would have been one of the more aesthetically pleasing goals of the year: Freshman Gina Kellett laced a beautiful, low serve into the circle from the defensive side of the midfield stripe, the ball going untouched before finding Sands' stick.
Sands flicked the ball high and toward the upper 90, but it missed just inches wide, keeping the score knotted at 1-1.
That would all change with 11:57 to play in the period, however, as Barton collected the Falcons' 12th penalty corner of the half and sent it back to her left, finding senior Amber (Philpot) Good. Good beat Cooke with a hard and low shot to the far post, putting Messiah up 2-1.
At the half, the Falcons led in shots (15-3) and corners (14-1). The score could have been more than 2-0, if Messiah had been able to avoid its own team members on shots. Good had to come out of the game after being struck by a shot late in the period, while Sands took a blast from sophomore Juliana Hershey in the gut just moments before the first half came to a close.
In the second period, the Falcons were certain to stay out of their own way.
Sands began the scoring less than a minute in, taking a deflected shot from Hershey and tapping the ball into the back of the cage from less than a yard off the end line, unmarked. Good notched the hosts' fourth score just seven minutes later, lifting a rebound off a Sea Gulls' defensive save and finding the cage from seven yards out on the right side.
Messiah nearly carded a fifth goal at the 44:16 mark, but a lift from Ziegler was ruled to hit the side of the Salisbury cage — a shot so close to going in that it required a brief meeting from game umpires to decipher what had happened.
In the end, however, the Falcons would not need the insurance. As the clock dwindled down, Salisbury's offensive pushes were met by a steadfast midfield and defense on the Messiah end, thwarting the Sea Gulls' advances before they became threats.
“Usually a team that wins the midfield wins the game,” Trapp said. “I thought we did that today. We used the clock so well at the end of the game today. You're on the sideline thinking, 'Can they score three goals in however many minutes?' Salisbury can be very wicked in the circle. Dawn's a great coach, even if she doesn't have talent. But they do, and they're a great team.”
At the game's conclusion, Chamberlin walked over to the Messiah huddle and offered words of encouragement, a classy move from a coach with four national championships to her credit.
“They played an outstanding game today,” Chamberlin said. “They moved the ball very well and they did what they needed to do. Once they got the ball inside the 25 (-yard circle), we couldn't stop them. They were on today. We wish them the best.”
With Sunday's victory, Messiah enters its 14th 'Final Four' having won its last 14 games — nine by shut out. In the post-game press conference, Trapp was asked if she ever had a team playing better heading into a national semi-final. Her reply was quick and punctual.
“Playing better? No,” she said. “I think the talent is spread so evenly throughout this team, and I think maybe more than any other team, top to bottom, this team really thinks hockey. They've stepped up, they back each other up, they talk to each other ... all the things you want a team to do, this team does. This morning, (assistant coach) Michael (Warari) gave a really good devotion, talking about 'what is a tough player?' He had 15 or 16 different things, and after each one I kept thinking, 'That's us. That's us.' This group has just been a joy to coach.”
Messiah moves on to face another familiar opponent, as the Falcons will take on Ursinus College (20-1), which advanced via a 3-0 win over Middlebury College Sunday.
It will be yet another re-match for the Falcons, as Trapp's club dealt Ursinus a 4-3 loss in one of last season's national semi-finals.
“Ursinus will be a really good match-up for us,” Trapp said. “They have a really strong midfield and front line, and it will be a tough test.”
The Falcons and Bears will meet Saturday at 11 a.m. at Christopher Newport University's Captains Turf Field. Skidmore College (20-1) and Bowdoin College (18-1) will meet in the other semi-final, begining at 2 p.m. The winners will then advance to Sunday's national championship tilt, set to take place at 1 p.m.
For additional information on the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championships, check out the official NCAA Championship website.
