Box Score
By Matt McDermott, GoMessiah.com student manager
Grantham, PA — Snow at the end of March? Strange. Messiah picking up the team's second straight conference win and fourth straight overall? That sounds about right.
In a first half that saw 11 unanswered Falcon goals and a wintry mix over Anderson Field, Messiah continued its recent run of dominance, blasting past Alvernia University by a 17-3 score.
Just four minutes into the game, senior Eric Petters launched a hard, bouncing shot past Alvernia's Kevin Shupp, starting a night that saw 11 different Falcons score.
And just some 20 seconds later, senior and pre-season All-American J.J. Miller connected on a pass to sophomore Kevan Schellenburg, the latter finishing the game with his third hat-trick of the season, leading the team with 13 goals.
Schellenburg was aided by classmate Zac Smith, who scored his first three goals of the season off the bench in the first half run of 11 goals.
Messiah's defense shut down the Crusaders for most of the evening, going 37 minutes without allowing a goal. That was until Alvernia's Brian Ray scored his sixth goal of the season with 7:56 remaining in the third quarter. By that time, the Falcons had the majority of their substitutes in the contest, and things were all but mathematically sealed.
The win marks the fourth straight game in which the Falcons took 44 shots or more, reaching a season high 51 attempts — the highest total since April 1, 2010 where the Falcons scored 15 goals on 51 shots in a 15-0 win over Lebanon Valley College.
Now, Messiah focuses on MAC rival FDU-Florham, the same Devils team that beat the Falcons in the MAC Semi-Finals last season, 4-9.
Game time is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Anderson Field.
