XML Box Score by Phil Naegely, GoMessiah.com reporter

Owings Mills, MD - Caroline Wulf deflected in the game-winner in the 50th minute and Brooke Sands added a score with under five minutes to play as Messiah College defeated Stevenson University on the road. Wulf's goal was her fourth of the season and ended a defense-intensive scoreless streak by both teams.
 
Out of the opening whistle, Messiah hit the gas hard and took their first shot just 19 seconds in; however, Stevenson's defensive pressure caused Sands shot to go wide. Messiah's high-speed offensive continued to create scoring opportunities and produced five corners and twelve shots in the first-half alone, but the Mustang's goalie Gabriella Brooks made one tremendous save after another and kept the visiting Falcons off the board.
 
"Their goalie played tremendously and really made us work hard to score," said Messiah head coach Brooke Good afterwards, praising the effort of the Stevenson goalkeeper.
 
In the 27th minute of action Moriah Pfautz's quick dribbling and fast footwork forced the Mustangs into reverse. As a result, Pfautz was tripped on a clear breakaway opportunity and earned a penalty stroke opportunity. Pfautz stepped up to take the penalty stroke, completed her swing and sent the ball into the corner of the cage. After initially being whistled as a goal, the referee bizarrely decided that the goal did not stand and another stroke had to be taken. The reason explained was that during Pfautz's first penalty stroke, Brooks took off her glove and wanted the referee to move Messiah's Molly Gebrosky from the other cage. On the second penalty stroke, Pfautz's shot was saved and the game remained scoreless.
 
In the early goings of the second-half Messiah barraged Stevenson with five shots, but they couldn't find the cage. On the other end of the field Stevenson also found their own scoring opportunities, but Gebrosky's continued her stellar play with one impressive stop after another. Even with the Mustangs cluttering the circle and taking five shots in a stretch from the 48th to 51st mintes, Gebrosky took charge, kept her eyes on the ball, and made sure nothing got passed her.
 
Minutes later Messiah found the game-winning goal. At the 49:34 mark Becky Ely sent the ball into the circle and Wulf's tip sent it to the cage and past Brooks. Brooks and the Mustangs contested that Wulf never did touch the ball in the circle, but the referee confirmed what would be the game-winning goal.
 
Undeterred, the Mustangs continued to fight up the field and appeared poised to tie the game off the stick of Rebecca Moreland with 10 minutes to play. But once again Gebrosky and the Falcons' defense stood strong, turning away two-straight shots by Moreland near the front of the cage to preserve the lead.
 
Then, with just under five minutes left in the game the Falcons doubled their lead. Off a penalty corner, Wulf found Brooke Sands in the circle who tipped the ball into the cage.
 
"Our defensive unit was the spark that kept us in the game," reflected Good on the hard-fought conference match. "It was a battle. We fought until the final whistle and got the win."
 
With the victory, Messiah moves to 12-2, including a perfect 6-0 record in Commonwealth Conference play, while Stevenson falls to 9-9 overall. Messiah's next match is at Elizabethtown on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 1:00 p.m.

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