Box Score
Grantham, PA -
Cecilia Kjellman scored four goals and assisted on two others on Tuesday to lead No. 16 Messiah College to a 17-15 win over No. 10 York College on Anderson Field. Kjellman scored three of her goals after the intermission, and assisted on a go-ahead goal by
Lizzy Keeney to break a 13-13 tie in the 47th minute.
Keeny's tie-breaking score off the feed from Kjellman was her third goal of the game, with
Carly Bajus extending the Falcons' lead to 15-13 a few minutes later. Bajus also finished with three goals—a career-high for the midfielder—as Messiah outshot the Spartans 37-31.
York managed to cut their deficit in half (15-14) with under ten minutes to play, but saw
Claire Stikeleather (7:59) and Kjellman (3:16) each score soon after to push the Messiah lead to 17-14.
The win for the Falcons moves them to 3-4 on the season—a misleading record for a Falcons' team ranked No. 16 in the country. The victory over York is their second this season over a ranked opponent (No. 20 Mary Washington), with three of their four losses coming at the hands of No. 4 Gettysburg, No. 6 College of New Jersey, and No. 8 Franklin & Marshall.
After taking an early 3-1 lead on Tuesday, it looked as though York would be the next ranked opponent to claim victory over the Falcons. But Messiah responded to their deficit to the tune of six-straight goals to go in front 7-3. Each goal was scored by a different player, including
Madi Brunk's first goal of the season off an assist from Stikeleather.
The Falcons held their lead throughout the first-half, going into the break up 10-8. They turned the ball over just three times in the first thirty minutes, a far cry from their 14 first-half giveaways in a one-goal loss to F&M last Wednesday.
Taylor Phillips stood out for Messiah in the cage, collecting six saves on 18 first-half shots by York.
The Spartans (7-2) regained some momentum in the second-half, tying the game on three separate occasions. But Messiah never did give up the lead, as they went ahead for good on a free-position set play for Keeney to break the aforementioned 13-13 tie.
Messiah outshot York 19-13 after the break, with their clean defensive execution (nine less fouls, 22-13) aiding their possession domination over the Spartans. Phillips remained strong as well, saving three more shots to finish with nine on the day.
The Falcons' care with the ball also carried over the first-half, as they committed just seven more turnovers after the break to finish with 10—well below their season average of 18.8 turnovers heading into the game.
With the win, Messiah will move on to host Widener University on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. It will be the Falcons' first conference game of the season.
WLAX: Falcons Take Down Spartans at Home Gallery
