Box Score
By Matt McDermott, GoMessiah.com student manager
Carlisle, PA — Messiah's offense continues to put up gaudy numbers, but don't look past the foundation of this team.
It's defense.
The Falcons' back line held strong versus a very offensive Dickinson College squad Wednesday afternoon, earning its sixth shutout of the season in a 6-0 haymaker at Dickinson Park. With the backfield thwarting chances, the Falcons' front line kept rolling, led by senior Amanda Naeher's first hat trick of the year.
It was the fourth game this season that Messiah — ranked atop the latest NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 Poll and D3soccer.com Top 25 ballot — scored at least six times.
Despite the Falcons' gaudy end result, it was Dickinson (3-2-1) that pressed early with possession, led behind junior Genevieve Olson, attacking the back line of the visitors, looking to find a seam to play.
“(Dickinson) came out ready to go,” Messiah head coach Scott Frey said. “They pushed a lot of girls forward and really put pressure on our back line. They took their chances whenever they had them and were looking to get their shots on goal.”
When Dickinson did have possession, they fired 10 shots, seven of which were saved by junior Autumn Reilly.
“Autumn did a great job stopping their chances,” Frey added. “She made the saves we had to have. Out back line, at times, struggled with their pressure but it is good to know that we can count on Autumn to make good stops for us.”
After the big opening push from the Red Devils, the Messiah offense pushed themselves. Junior Leah Sipe controlled possession following many clear outs from Reilly, ultimately turning the field in favor for the Falcons.
“Leah was huge for us tonight,” Frey said. “She was big in the air for us. She switched fields at the perfect times. She is a big part of what we do and she does it so well.”
As Sipe moved up the field with her possession she found the attacking five with passes that were on point.
And when the ball touched Naeher's feet, results happened.
Two impressive goals from Naeher at the 16:16 and 28:37 marks put the Falcons up 2-0, almost breaking the backs of the Red Devils single handedly. But the most impressive goal of the night came from freshman Alicia Frey.
“It was a bomb,” Frey said.
Just 15 minutes before the half, a Dickinson defender attempted to clear the ball wide but Frey stopped the play. When the defender stepped toward Frey, she launched a blast that sailed high, catching Red Devils' keeper Annie Weichert in limbo, and finding a home in the back of the potato sack at the 30:55 mark for her sixth goal of the year.
At the half, the Falcons led 3-0, but continued to pour on the offense, eventually equating to a 17-10 advantage in total shots and a 5-1 discrepancy in corner kicks. Sophomore Corinne Wulf scored her second goal of the year at the 51:46 mark, and Naeher notched her first hat trick of the year at the 57:00 mark. Junior Olivia Scott scored her first goal of the season at the 77:58 mark, while Wulf upped her season assist tally to three behind helpers on each of the Falcons' final two scores.
“We played much better in the second half as I think our depth and rate of play got to (Dickinson),” Frey said. “Corinne played so well up top. She is so quick and can pass well (adding two assists to her goal).
“I like seeing the girls try the things in games that we work on in practice,” Frey added. “Tonight, we did that, but it got us into trouble early when we were pressured. Overall, we are getting better with what we are working with, and that is a good sign.”
Messiah (7-0) will look to improve in practice before traveling to Denison, Ohio Saturday for a match-up against a 2009 NCAA Tournament Team in Denison University. Game time is set for 12 p.m. at the Big Red's Barclay-Thomsen Field.
