Box Score
By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA — Following Thursday's 1-0 loss to 19th-ranked Eastern University, Messiah head coach Jan Trapp had said she hoped the game would serve as a wake-up call to her team.
She was right.
The second-rated Falcons defeated ninth-ranked Rowan University in a 3-0 shut out Saturday afternoon at Anderson Field, utilizing a solid offensive performance with an even better defensive show.
“It's very challenging to keep that talented of a team out of the goal for 70 minutes,” said Brooke Good, Messiah assistant coach. “We played a strong game. I was very proud of the girls.”
Messiah (3-1) wasted no time taking an early lead, as sophomore Juliana Hershey's unassisted goal just 5:48 into the game gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
Freshman Brooke Sands' goal off a pass from senior Amber (Philpot) Good at the 9:21 mark put the Falcons up by two less than 10 minutes into the game, and Messiah's possession control did not appear to be lessening.
“There were definitely some areas in which we didn't capitalize offensively, but I thought we converted some big plays,” Good said. “It was a very solid offensive performance.”
It was the third straight win for Messiah over Rowan (2-2), dating back to the historic, 2-1 double-overtime win on Nov. 15, 2008 — a game that sent the Falcons to the NCAA Division III Final Four and prompted Coach Trapp to call it arguably the greatest game ever played on Anderson Field.
While Saturday's contest may not have had the repercussions of that post-season victory, it was still an early-season benchmark for Trapp's club. With a 2-0 lead in hand, the Falcons' midfield and defense stepped up and controlled the clock, and ultimately the outcome of the game.
“It was a very good defensive showing,” Good said. “We maintained a high level of play throughout the whole game. We were able to use both goalkeepers and each of them played well for us. We had an injury to one of the girls in warm-ups and Erika Cann stepped right in and played a superb game. She was filling in but you would have thought she had been playing with the first-team all year.”
The Falcons' sizable edge in shots (24-3) and penalty corners (14-4) reflected the dominance of Coach Trapp's squad.
A late goal by senior Kourtney Ehly off a pass from sophomore Natalie Ziegler gave the Falcons a three-score lead and seemingly put the game away for good.
Freshmen goalkeepers Molly Gebrosky and Kayleigh Stewart each played tremendously in goal, totaling three saves collecting the team's second shared shut out of the year.
“After our last game, we looked at areas of our game in which we needed improvement and we worked on them in practice,” Good said. “Obviously we did not perform to the best of our abilities in the (Eastern) game, and it was nice to see the girls execute the things we had worked on today.”
Saturday's tilt with the Profs was the fourth of six consecutive games Messiah plays against teams ranked in the Kookaburra/NFHCA Division III National Coaches Poll, a schedule that will continue to test the caliber of Trapp's team.
The Falcons have a week off before a matchup against Salisbury University, a game that features the top-ranked Sea Gulls against the second-ranked Falcons, a rematch of the 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship Game.
“It's going be a tough game for sure,” Good said. “Salisbury is a very challenging team. There's going be a lot of emotion seeing that they were the last team we faced to end last season. I'm very excited to play them, and I think our players are excited to play them. We will have a full week of practice to work on things both offensively and defensively.”
Messiah will have home-field advantage for the pending showdown with Salisbury University, a game that seems to have all the possibilities of an instant classic.
“It's going to be one of the premier games of this year,” Good said. “We're going to need a strong team effort from each person to win.”
Messiah and Salisbury will hook up next Saturday at Anderson Field. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
