Box Score
Grantham, PA — Two games into the 2011 season, and Messiah head coach Heather Greer's 'To Do' list continues to get smaller and smaller.
Just four days after winning her first-ever season-opener in an 11-3 drubbing of Dickinson College, Greer guided her team to a 16-6 throttling of McDaniel College — the program's first win over the Green Terror under Greer's four years of tutelage.
Messiah (2-0) exploded out of the gates on a windswept Wednesday afternoon at Anderson Field, scoring five goals in the game's first five minutes to put McDaniel (0-1) in a serious hole. A free position shot from sophomore Maddie Comfort got things going just 52 seconds into the action, while unassisted markers from junior Meghan Doolittle, sophomore Cecilia Kjellman, senior Megan Bovenzi and junior Jaime Gerhart all followed prior to the first period's 25:06 mark.
The goals were a credit to the Falcons' persistent dominance in the midfield, as Greer's club claimed four of the game's first five draw controls — en route to a 17-6 advantage on the afternoon.
“The key was the draw today,” Greer said. “It's huge to a game. Obviously, you can't score if you don't have the ball. (A draw control) is a 50-50 ball, and if you're coming up with it all the time, it puts you in a position to score.”
As Messiah threatened to blow things open before breaking a sweat, however, McDaniel responded. Wins in two of the following three draw controls helped the Green Terror rip off three straight scores in the span of five and a half minutes of play, pulling within a 5-3 deficit with 18:30 to go in the first half.
A Greer timeout would change all of that, though. Messiah slowly pulled away with seven more first-period goals to make it a 12-3 lead at the intermission, a surge capped by a gorgeous put-away from Comfort miliseconds before the halftime horn.
“We were able to find the back of the net, but I didn't think we executed some of the things that we've been working on in practice,” Greer said. “Any win is a good win, but we also want to play to the best of our ability.”
With a 12-3 advantage in hand, that wasn't necessary over the game's final 30 minutes. Four different players scored four goals for the hosts during the latter half, while McDaniel registered 10 shots to Messiah's eight, scoring three times as well.
When the dust settled, Messiah had claimed the 16-6 decision behind a 27-17 advantage in total shots and the aforementioned 17-6 landslide in draw controls. Both teams finished with 20 ground balls on the day.
Junior Rachel Coyle was Messiah's biggest reason for such draw control dominance, securing seven of the game's 23 opportunities. Dirksen scooped up four, while senior Andrea Thomas finished with three.
After being held scoreless against Dickinson, Dirksen tallied five goals Wednesday, coming off just five shots. Bovenzi and Comfort each scored three times, while Kjellman put two away.
Sophomore Taylor Phillips was again outstanding in goal, finishing with eight saves against 17 total shots.
“RC (Coyle) was great on the draw for us,” Greer said. “There's obviously strategy (in draw controls), but there's an element of 'want to.' RC just works so hard to get the job done. She's a very scrappy player. Everybody has the fundamental skill to get the ball, but a lot of it is who wants it more.”
The win snapped McDaniel's three-game winning streak over Messiah, with the last two coming via heartbreaker: The Green Terror claimed an 11-8 win over the Falcons last season, while Greer's club fell by a 12-13 score in their season-opener two years back.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Greer said after Wednesday's win. “We definitely have to room to improve.”
Messiah will have a bit of time to practice, as the team will be idle until Friday, Mar. 11 when Wilkes University visits Anderson Field. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
