Box Score
St. Davids, PA — Messiah got all it wanted from host Eastern University early Tuesday afternoon.
It still wasn't enough to put a chink in the armor.
A 9-2 Falcons' run turned a 5-3 lead into a 13-5 disparity late in the first half, and Messiah rolled to its eighth straight win and ninth MAC victory in as many attempts, knocking off the host Eagles by a 23-9 count.
Seven Falcons scored multiple goals — led by a career-high six from junior Meghan Doolittle — as 14th-ranked Messiah (12-1, 9-0) overcame a close-knit start.
“We need to continue to get better at the fundamentals,” said Heather Greer, Messiah head coach. “We weren't good on ground balls today ... we were popping them up. We've got to get better at the fundamentals, and ground balls are a huge part of that.”
Greer's club scooped up a total 15 ground balls — the team's fewest since a season-low 11 in both Spring Fling contests in West Palm Beach, Florida — but did successfully clear 14 of 18 opportunities.
The latter statistic, coupled with obtaining 12 of the first half's 19 draw controls, helped Messiah withstand Eastern's early push. Senior Kara Geiman, sophomore Cecilia Kjellman and freshman Lizzy Keeney all scored within the game's first seven and a half minutes, and it appeared that the Falcons were on their way to another blowout win.
But Eastern (5-7, 5-4) wasn't done yet.
Transition scores from the Eagles' Kelly Dando and Kendall Rood pulled the hosts within a 3-2 deficit within the next two minutes. Had it not been for six first-half saves from sophomore goalie Taylor Phillips — including several early — Eastern may have taken a lead.
But that's when Messiah's aforementioned run occurred.
Kjellman and senior Meghan Doolittle scored back-to-back tallies at the 19:24 and 18:33 marks, and following a goal from Eastern's Brittany Keith, the Falcons ripped off five straight. Doolittle was at the forefront of that charge, scoring thrice, while Keeney added two more. Eastern's Allie Fultz stopped the bleeding with a goal at the 7:57 marker, but juniors Rachel Dirksen and Jaime Gerhart responded with two more goals for Messiah — making it a 12-4 affair. Eastern's Christy Hild scored with 4:09 remaining in the first half, but senior Kara Geiman blasted her second goal of the afternoon with 23 seconds to go.
“Our attack is starting to click,” Greer said. “We're starting to get comfortable with each other, know each other's actions ... it's fun to see. Defensively we adjusted to some things, too. We worked hard to close our doubles.”
The result was a game that never got closer than six goals in the second half, while another Falcons' explosion blew things open just 10 minutes in: Greer's club rattled off seven straight scores from the 20:17 mark to the 10:24 mark, opening a 22-8 lead.
Following an unassisted goal from the Eagles' Allie Gauthier, Doolittle finished the day's scoring with 3:31 to play, notching her career-best sixth score.
Keeney wasn't far behind, scoring four times while assisting on two other goals. Geiman and Dirksen each added three, while Gerhart, Kjellman and freshman Kiersten McGreer finished with two goals each.
Dirksen and Geiman each finished with five draw controls; Keeney and junior Rachel Coyle finished with four apiece. Coyle also caused a team-leading three turnovers.
“We have some players who are really good on both ends,” Greer said, in regards to her team's play in the midfield. “That helps. We're battling some injuries, but the next person has to step up. That's the nature of the beast. And that's being part of a team.”
Messiah now has just four regular-season MAC games remaining, and will travel to Lebanon Valley College Thursday. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
