Box Score
Lancaster, PA – The Messiah College Falcons' brutal early season schedule continued Thursday evening, playing their seventh national top-20 opponent in eight games this season.
This time, though, the Falcons (6-2) didn't come out on top, falling to the ninth-ranked Franklin & Marshall Diplomats (7-1), 1-0, in what head coach
Brooke Good said was a tough loss for her team.
“These types of losses are just really hard to take,” Good said. “It just seemed like we weren't connecting on passes, not getting some of the calls to go our way, and F&M played a really good game.”
The Falcons have become accustomed to starting fast this season, something they couldn't get going in this game. Neither team managed a solid offensive possession for the first ten minutes of the contest, sending zero shots on goal and neither team drawing a corner.
Penalty corners are where the Falcons thrive offensively. Through seven games, the Falcons held an 80-41 advantage over their opponents in corners taken. Many of the goals scored by the Falcons this season have been made possible off their penalty corners.
“I don't know what the corner stats were, exactly, tonight, but I know we took very few,” coach Good said of the 10-4 advantage the Diplomats held in corners. “Their defense played very well, limiting our opportunities on the offensive end.”
Overall, the game was very competitive throughout, a defensive struggle of sorts.
The defensive, back-and-forth play started from the opening whistle as both teams traded possessions and often failed to enter into the opponent's offensive circle. Numerous possessions yielded no corners or shots on goal until ten minutes into the stanza.
The speed of play would pick up, especially from the Diplomats, and the Messiah defense would have to hold strong to keep the hosts off the board.
“With the amount of corners that they were getting I thought that our defense played well,” Good said. “We held off numerous chances they had late in the first half and they kept us in the game.”
After gaining an edge in their offensive zone and turning up the pressure on the Falcons, F&M was awarded four penalty corners in a little over five minutes late in the half. On each of the four corners, the Falcons defense held strong to keep the hosts off the board.
The first good opportunity for either squad came off the stick of the Diplomats' Steph McDonald in the 28th minute, but goalie
Molly Gebrosky made a save with a flash of the left blocker sending the teams into the break in a scoreless tie. The Diplomats held edges over the Falcons in corners (4-0) and shots (8-2) in the first half.
Despite holding strong over the end of the first half, the Falcons found themselves in a 1-0 hole very quickly in the second half.
Off a penalty corner, Steph McDonald sent a blistering shot toward the Falcons' cage. The Diplomats' leading scorer, Kristen Zublin deflected the shot just passed the right blocker of Gebrosky for the lead and the game-winner. For Zublin, it was her eighth goal of the season.
The Falcons wouldn't concede easily to defeat, however. Playing from behind for just the second time this season, the Falcons made every attempt to get back in the game.
“I thought that the last ten minutes of the game were really strong for us,” Good said. “We got a couple opportunities on the corner, our passes were clicking and we made a strong push.”
“Unfortunately, we just couldn't put the ball in the cage. It's always hard to lose a game like this, but this is a game that we will be able to build on and learn from in the future.”
The Falcons won't have much time to think about the loss as they return to action on Saturday, September 29 in Annville, Pa., face conference rival Lebanon Valley College. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
