Box Score
Reading, PA — Ten goals in the first 20 minutes of play at Alvernia University helped Messiah float to its fourth MAC win of the season Wednesday, as the Falcons cruised to a 19-10 win at Alvernia's Schlager Memorial Field.
Nine different Falcons scored in a physical affair, as Messiah (7-1, 4-0) picked up its first true road victory of the season — beating a previously undefeated Crusaders' side.
“We're fighting for consistency from start to finish,” said Heather Greer, Messiah head coach. “We started strong today, but I don't think we finished stronger. We're pleased to get a conference win on the road, but we know that we have plenty we can improve on.”
Greer's club won 11 of the game's first 13 draw controls, helping itself to the fast start. Senior Kara Geiman scored an unassisted marker just 29 seconds in, while freshman Lizzy Keeney opened a 9-0 Messiah run following a goal from Alvernia's Allison Bainbridge.
Junior Meghan Doolittle scored three times during the spurt while Keeney scored twice, helping the Falcons to a 10-1 lead with 11:26 to go in the first half.
Alvernia tacked on goals at the 10:15 and 5:33 marks to maintain a glimmer of hope, but four more Messiah goals — including an unassisted blast from junior Rachel Dirksen with four seconds remaining on the clock — pushed the visitors to a 14-3 halftime lead.
“We put some players in different positions at certain points today, spots that they were uncomfortable in,” Greer said. “But we need to continue to build our depth. We'll continue to look at all the options.”
With an 11-goal lead in hand, the Falcons slowly let Alvernia (7-1, 4-1) crawl back into things, but not before the advantage had been stretched to 19-5. Keeney concluded Messiah's scoring with 9:23 to go, finishing unassisted for her single-game career-high fourth goal.
The hosts then rattled off the game's last five goals, making the final score appear a bit closer than the true competitiveness of the game.
Keeney's four goals were flanked by three from Doolittle and two apiece from Dirksen, Geiman, senior Megan Bovenzi, sophomore Cecilia Kjellman and sophomore Kiersten McGreer. Geiman and Kjellman each finished with two assists.
On the draw, the Falcons were led by junior Rachel Coyle's five nabbings, while Geiman secured two. All but three participating players scoped at least one ground ball for Greer's club.
“I was pleased with how we converted draws to scores early, and we were able to use our fast break to get good opportunities,” Greer said. “It's also been great to see how our freshmen have stepped up so far this year. Lizzy (Keeney), Emily (Mumford) and Kayla (Given) have done a great job stepping up when they've needed to.”
The first away game of the season — Messiah's other two contests away from Anderson Field were neutral games in West Palm Beach, Florida — the Falcons will again hit the road next, traveling to FDU-Florham for a match-up between two of the MAC's top-tier teams Saturday. The Devils concluded Messiah's season in an 11-8 shocker in last year's MAC Semi-Final.
“It's a big game, a big conference game,” Greer said. “We have had that taste in our mouth (from last year), of course. But, again, we're not going to let emotion distract us. We're going to focus on playing Messiah lacrosse.”
Game time is set for 1 p.m.
