Box Score
Baltimore, MD — Following Wednesday night's season-opening loss to Johns Hopkins University, Messiah head coach Mike Miller was hoping to do his best Brad McCarty impersonation.
McCarty — the Falcons' men's soccer head coach — takes his team into the NCAA 'Sweet 16' this weekend, boasting a 19-game winning streak after dropping the first game of the year to Hobart College.
Like the men's soccer program, Miller hopes his squad can produce similar results, after falling to the Blue Jays for the first time in program history, 58-61, in Goldfarb Gymnasium.
“We did talk about (our men's soccer team) after the game,” Miller said. “We have to find a way to use this (loss) to make us better.”
Messiah (0-1) will look to improve in multiple areas following Wednesday's defeat, as the team was outrebounded by a 37-20 margin, gave up a 55 percent shooting clip to the hosts in the second period and made just five of 16 three-pointers on the night — a 31.3 percent rate.
The Falcons led at just two different junctures during the game — a 6-5 advantage with 15:48 to go in the first half and a 14-13 lead eight minutes later — but couldn't find execution on either end of the floor to overcome a narrow JHU lead for the remainder. Johns Hopkins (1-1) took a 28-24 lead into the halftime break and opened up a nine-point spread on three different occasions in the second period before hanging on for the victory.
“It was disappointing,” Miller said afterward. “The disappointment came from our lack of transference of the energy, passion and execution we displayed in our scrimmage against Shippensburg (University) to our first game.”
Messiah's lack of energy was evident on the glass throughout the contest, as a 24-10 disparity in first-half rebounds — including an 11-3 difference on the offensive boards — helped Hopkins to its early lead. The Blue Jays scored 10 of their 28 first-half points on second chances, while a late triple from Chantel Mattiola turned a 25-24 contest into the four-point spread at the break.
In the second half, JHU shot out to a 37-29 lead just five minutes in, and still led by nine (40-31) with 11:30 to play. A steal from senior Michele Schleich and a subsequent layup from sophomore Dori Gyori cut the lead to 49-47 with 6:01 remaining, but an 8-1 Hopkins' run regained a 57-48 lead for the hosts with just 2:49 to go.
Ranked 16th in the pre-season USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and 15th in the D3hoops.com Top 25 ballot, however, Messiah would not go away without a fight. Freshman Chelsea Danel buried a jump shot and came up with a steal on the Falcons' next defensive trip, finding Schleich for a layup with 2:13 remaining.
Messiah stopped Hopkins on its next two possessions, and when freshman Taylor Miller buried a long ball of a nifty set play with 29 seconds to go, the Falcons trailed by only a 57-55 score.
Sadly, however, the Falcons were forced to foul, and sent Hopkins' best free throw shooter to the line. The Blue Jays' Siobhan Callahan knocked in four charity tosses — Gyori missed a three to split those efforts — making it a 61-55 game with six seconds to play.
Only a moot, 25-foot trey from sophomore Kira Maier would change the final score as the buzzer sounded.
“We played poorly in the first half and got through some foul trouble, and we thought we were in a good place considering how we had played. When we failed to execute defensively, credit Hopkins. They made the shots all night.”
Gyori finished with 15 points and six rebounds to lead Messiah's cause, going five of 10 from the floor. Schleich scored 13 on a four of six performance, while Miller put up 10 on a rough shooting night.
Hopkins was led by Lyndsay Burton's game-high 20 points, while Mattiola buried four of six from range to score 14.
Messiah will not have long to ponder its season-opening defeat, as the program hosts the Hampton Inn Tip-Off Classic this weekend. The Falcons will face the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg Friday at 7:30 p.m., and then will take on Rowan University Saturday at 3 p.m.
“I think it's a good thing that we play again Friday,” Miller said. “I think our expectation is that we'll fine tune some things as a result of this game, and come out and execute better this weekend.”
