XML Box Score by Phil Naegely, GoMessiah.com reporter
Washington, D.C. - No. 17 Catholic University scored an overtime game-winner to complete a comeback over No. 14 Messiah College and move to the Second Round of the NCAA Championships Tournament. The hard loss for Messiah completes their season at 15-6.
In the first-half, Messiah outshot Catholic 7-3 and outcornered the Cardinals 6-2, but the Falcons failed to capitalize on their chances. Right before the intermission, Messiah had two penalty corner opportunities, but Catholic's defense stood strong and prevented Messiah from any great scoring opportunities. The game remained scoreless heading into the break.
Off a restart about seven minutes into the second-half, Messiah went up 1-0 on
Moriah Pfautz's 24 goal of the season. A pass from
Brooke Sands led Pfautz who drove to the goal and pulled keeper Megan Comunle out before sending the ball into the cage. Messiah kept the pressure on offensively, but was unable to increase their lead.
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Catholic, though, found the equalizer less than five minutes later. Off a penalty corner, Rebecca Lukaszczyk gathered the ball in from a pass inside the circle and redirected the ball into the net. After the goal, the majority of play occurred in the midfield with neither team getting very far into their respective offensive thirds.
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With the regulation ticking down, Messiah earned three penalty corners with the last one producing their best scoring chance.
Celina Nissley's last-second shot was saved by Comunale, and the game headed into overtime.
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In the overtime session with seven-on-seven hockey, Catholic would score the golden-goal game-winner just 3:12 into the period. Moments previous
Molly Gebrosky made a crucial save on Maura Campbell's shot, but the save led to a Cardinals penalty corner. Off the corner, the ball was played to the top of the circle before Campbell sent a screamer into the congested circle and somehow found the back of the cage. The goal sent Catholic fans into jubilation, while Falcon Nation sat shocked at the abrupt end to the season.
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"We played a great game on both an individual and team level. Everyone stepped up and played their hearts out," Messiah head coach
Brooke Good said, proud of how her team's performance. "Although the loss is hard to take, we went out with our heads held high. For our seniors, they had a great season and should look back and say that the journey was sweet."
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Messiah finishes the 2013 campaign with a 15-6 record. They won their seventh-straight Commonwealth Championship and participated in their 13th-straight NCAA Tournament.
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