XML Box Score by Phil Naegely, GoMessiah.com reporter

Grantham, PA - After going down early against Lebanon Valley College, Messiah College battled back and scored two second-half goals in a span of less than two minutes apart to win 2-1 in a big Commonwealth showdown.
 
Out of the opening whistle—and only 37 seconds into the match—Messiah stormed down the field and created a scoring opportunity but saw Lindsay Bower's shot went wide. On the other end, LVC earned the game's first penalty corner and capitalized. Melissa Brosious sent the ball to the top of the circle where Lauren Brumbach quickly launched a shot that went into the back of the cage and shocked the Falcons' Homecoming crowd gathered at Anderson Field.
 
Despite giving up the early goal, Messiah dominated both the field and the stat sheet. But Lebanon Valley's goalie Chloe Baro singlehandedly preserved the Dutchmen's lead into the second-half; Messiah's 19 first-half shots resulted in Baro making 12 saves.
 
Still, Messiah's dominant play continued after the break and they were finally able to get passed Baro's superb goalkeeping in the 41st minute. Messiah took advantage of a Dutchmen turnover and found Moriah Pfautz in the midfield for a pass up to an open Rachel Cox. In turn, Cox passed back to a streaking Pfautz whose team-leading 12th goal on the season tied the game.
 
Just 1:53 later Messiah's quick, connecting passes led to another goal and the game winner. Pfautz brought the ball down the left side of the field and, upon attempting a shot, was tripped up with both a defender and Baro leaving the ball loose in the circle. Brooke Sands ran onto the play from behind and fired a shot into the goal before a separate defender could make a defensive save. The goal was Sands' fifth on the season.
 
On the afternoon, Messiah outshot Lebanon Valley 31-5 and had a 21-2 shots on target advantage. Lebanon Valley's two shots on target came in the first-half.
 
"As a team, we did a great job of connecting our passes and earning good chances, but could not capitalize in the first-half," recalled Coach Brooke Good reflecting back on the first-half. "However, we battled in the second-half and made the most of our opportunities. We were finally able to break the goalkeeper and find the cage."
 
With the win, Messiah improves to 11-2, 5-0 in Commonwealth Conference play, while Lebanon Valley falls to 8-7 and 4-1 respectively. The Falcons start a three-game road trip with a game against Stevenson University on Wednesday, Oct. 23. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.

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