XML Box Score by Phil Naegely, GoMessiah.com reporter

Elizabethtown, PA – Three different Blue Jays scored to lead Elizabethtown College to a 3-1 win over Messiah College on Saturday in a highly-anticipated match-up of the Commonwealth Conference's final two undefeated teams. The win for Etown (12-4, 7-0) guarantees them the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament which starts in early November.
 
At the beginning of the game Messiah quickly advanced into the offensive third and found a great scoring opportunity. Moriah Pfautz dribbled by her opponent and took a shot on the open cage, but Emily Mason sped towards the line and made the defensive save right before the ball crossed the line.
 
Mason's defensive save energized the Blue Jays as they temporarily took the game's control. At the 8:35 mark, Taylor Alwine's third shot attempt was a charm and put Elizabethtown up 1-0.
 
Messiah's high-tempo offense earned them their first corner opportunity moments later. Celina Nissley found Gina Kellett whose shot was saved by Marlena Johnson. About four minutes later Messiah earned another corner and capitalized. Pfautz's 13th goal of the season tied the game and mirrored Elizabethtown's first goal. With Jennie Kamel's and Lindsay Bower's shots being saved, Pfautz found the loose ball and accurately shot it into the cage.
 
After a high-paced, thrilling first-half, the game headed into the break tied 1-1.
 
The Falcons earned five penalty corners in the second-half's first 15 minutes, but Elizabethtown's solid defense prevented Messiah from any solid shot attempts on goal. In the second-half alone, Messiah outshot and outcornered the Blue Jays 6-2 and 7-3, respectively. Unlike Messiah, Elizabethtown made the most of their few opportunities.
 
"Etown capitalized on the two opportunities we gave them," said Coach Brooke Good referencing the Blue Jays second-half performance. "That was the difference in this game"
 
Indeed Elizabethtown's two opportunities ended up being the difference. At the 62:57 mark, the Blue Jays were awarded a penalty stroke after a controversial call by the official; Messiah's team believed the Blue Jays should have received a penalty corner on the play. Despite the controversial call, Andrea Keady stepped up and blasted the ball past an out-stretched Molly Gebrosky.
 
Off a penalty corner with less than two minutes to play, Elizabethtown scored and secured the senior day victory. Kaylee Werner quickly blasted Emily Mason's pass through the circle and into the back of the cage.
 
The last time Elizabethtown defeated Messiah was on Sept. 27, 2006 by a 2-1 score. Ironically, this game was also played at Elizabethtown.
 
With the loss, Messiah falls to 12-3 and 6-1 in Commonwealth Conference play, while Elizabethtown improves to 12-4 and 7-0 respectively.
 
With three matches next week, Messiah will need to quickly learn from this loss and prepare for the schedule. On Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Messiah travels to take on 2011 National Champions The College of New Jersey. They then host Hood College on Thursday before closing out their regular season Saturday, Nov. 2 against William Smith at 12:00 p.m.

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