Box Score
Grantham, PA — At this point, even Messiah women's soccer head coach Scott Frey has to be impressed.
The Falcons' women's lacrosse team recorded its third shutout of the 2011 season Wednesday, blanking MAC foe Arcadia University by a 19-0 count. It was the third blanking of the season for the Falcons, setting a new program record for most shutouts in a season. Wednesday's result joined a 19-0 win over Wilkes University Mar. 11 and a 17-0 result against Widener University Mar. 23.
“I'm pretty excited about our third shutout of the season,” said Messiah head coach Heather Greer, who now stands just a mere 18 shutouts away from tying Frey's mark this fall. “Shutouts are not that common in lacrosse. I think that they're attributed to a good, hard ride, a good settled defense and a great goalie. For us to do it three times this year already, I'm just impressed with how we've performed in those areas.”
Messiah's transition defense was suffocating Wednesday, limiting Arcadia (3-6, 2-5) to successful clears in just five of 14 attempts — including an anemic one for eight performance in the game's first half.
It was then that the Falcons exploded offensively, taking advantage of constant possession to roll out to a 14-0 lead at the break. Greer's club peppered the Knights' back line for 25 first-half shots compared to just one for the visitors, while Messiah (9-1, 6-0) won an incredible 15 first-half draws.
The scoring was quick to follow such domination in the midfield, as senior Megan Bovenzi got things going just 37 seconds into play. When junior Jaime Gerhart scored less than a minute later, it was clear that Greer's club was cruising: Three first-half scores from sophomore Cecilia Kjellman and three from senior Kara Geiman led the way, as the Falcons began to pull back on the reins before the first period was close to complete.
“Our ride was really good today,” Greer said. “They're just hungry for it and we've been executing it very well. There' a game plan to it, but you have to dig deep. There's an element of just working hard. Our middies are running back and forth the entire game. There's no time to save your legs.”
Junior Rachel Coyle was among those offering supreme effort, coming up with a game-high six draw controls to keep the ball in the Falcons' sticks. Coyle also finished with a game-best five ground balls, dishing an assist as well.
With a sizeable lead in hand, Messiah began to work the clock in the second half, tacking on just five more goals off of 11 shots in the final 30 minutes of play. Geiman added her fourth goal of the season with 18:45 to go, while junior Meghan Doolittle, sophomore Gabrielle Hamerlyck and freshman Kayla Given all scored as well. Gerhart concluded the scoring with 7:32 to play.
Messiah — ranked 15th in the latest IWLCA Top 20 Poll — kept the scoreboard blank thanks to a pair of saves from sophomore goalie Taylor Phillips in the second half, as two, rare Arcadia transition opportunities resulted in the visitors' only shots on goal of the afternoon: The Knights' Kristen Chasse fired a low shot midway through the second period that Phillips easily collected, while teammate Stephanie Holguin had perhaps Arcadia's best chance snubbed with 10 minutes to play.
“It felt like a big difference in how we played compared to Saturday,” Greer said. “We made good decisions with the ball, and that really is key for us offensively.”
Messiah now has a week layoff before competing in perhaps its most important regular-season game to date, as the club will travel to MAC rival Elizabethtown College next Wednesday. Like Messiah, the Blue Jays boast a perfect 6-0 record in MAC play, and Wednesday's meeting could very well be the determining factor for the top seed in the upcoming league tournament.
“We're going to have a balance of getting after it and working our tails off (over the next week) and a bit of rest so we're ready to go for Wednesday,” Greer said. “Again, we're not going to get caught up in the emotion of a game like this, but rather focus on what we do well. We'll be focused on playing with heart, but not emotion.”
Game time for Wednesday's clash is set for 4 p.m. at Elizabethtown's Wolf Field.
