Box Score
Grantham, PA — The refrain was more of the same Wednesday at Anderson Field, as Messiah closed out its regular-season home finale in a 20-1 drubbing of MAC foe Lycoming College — the team's 11th conference win in 11 tries and 10th consecutive victory overall.
The latter tied a program record, as Messiah (14-1, 11-0) also won 10 straight games in an 18-6 win over Eastern University last season. The Falcons then dropped an 8-11 loss to FDU-Florham in the MAC Semi-Finals.
The biggest difference this year? At least two chances to add to the streak, as Messiah will travel to King's College Saturday before hosting a MAC Semi-Final game next Thursday, against an opponent yet to be determined.
“The (winning) streak is nice and all, but that's just a byproduct of us taking things one day at a time, one game at a time, one ball at a time,” said Heather Greer, Messiah head coach. “We still feel we have a lot to work and improve on. We're not satisfied with how we're playing overall. We will not get complacent.”
Perhaps Messiah's only hiccup against an overmatched Lycoming squad was 12 turnovers, nearly all of which occurred in the Falcons' offensive third. Those miscues were erased by 12 caused turnovers and a stifling ride, forcing the Warriors into just five successful clears in 19 attempts.
Freshman Lizzy Keeney and junior Rachel Dirksen helped Messiah to a 3-0 lead just two and a half minutes in, but Lyco's Grace Gariulo got the visitors on the board just four minutes later, winning a ball in the midfield and sprinting down the center cut before finishing a low shot past sophomore goalie Taylor Phillips.
It was Gargiulo's 75th goal of the season, snubbing what otherwise would have been yet another Falcons' shutout and ruining Greer's defensive objective for the game.
“Our goal defensively was to not let her score,” Greer said. “Seventy-five goals in a single season is incredible, and she's a very good player. I think we were disappointed to give up that goal collectively. She made a great run and finished well.”
Sadly for Lycoming (3-12, 3-8), it would be the only resemblance of a highlight.
Greer's club tacked on 10 more goals in the final 23 minutes of the first period, taking a 13-1 lead into the intermission and never looking back. A much more deliberate attack followed after halftime, though the results did not: Thirteen second-half shots equated to seven more goals for the Falcons, who breached the 20-goal barrier for the fourth time this season.
“We had great power on our shots early, but our placement was not very good,” Greer said. “We also can't turn the ball over the way we did today, if we want to compete against great teams. We've been able to hide our weaknesses pretty well, but against great teams those weaknesses will be exposed. Again, we've got to continue to work to fix some things and finish stronger.”
Keeney paced the Falcons' offensive onslaught, charting a career-high six goals on nine shots. Senior Kara Geiman had an incredible stat line, posting four goals, two assists, five ground balls, five draw controls and three caused turnovers.
Dirksen and sophomore Cecilia Kjellman finished with three goals each, while junior Meghan Doolittle had two. Freshman Kayla Given and sophomore Kiersten McGreer rounded off the scoring with a goal each.
Messiah took a total 42 shots on the afternoon, the team's second-highest output of the season. A 22-1 advantage in draw controls and a 23-9 disparity in ground balls kept the Warriors from ever having a chance.
Greer's club will look to set a new school record for most consecutive wins Saturday, when the team travels to King's. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
