Box Score
Owings Mills, MD - Despite taking a 4-1 lead after 11 minutes of play against Stevenson, the No. 14 Messiah College Falcons were unable to withstand a furious rally by the Mustangs in a 13-8 loss on the road.
Marissa Meiklejohn led all scorers with four goals, helping Stevenson to their 12th-straight win after a season-opening loss to powerhouse Salisbury University. The loss drops Messiah to 7-6 on the season as the Mustangs also edge past the Falcons to 5-0 in the Commonwealth.
The regular-season conference loss for Messiah is their first since dropping a 16-15 decision to Elizabethtown College on Mar. 24, 2010—a stretch of 32 consecutive games.
In what was the battle of the last two undefeated teams in the conference, Messiah took firm control of the contest in the early minutes. They scored the game's first three goals and went up 4-1 on a score by
Molly Devilbiss at the 19:05 mark of the first-half.
But Stevenson did not grow dejected from their early hole, managing instead to score 10 of the game's next 11 goals. Five of those scores game to end the first-half with a 6-4 lead.
The Mustang's stayed hot after the break, scoring five of the next six goals to go in front 11-5.
Messiah was unable to slow the Stevenson momentum in that stretch, in part because they managed to make good on just five of nine clearing attempts in the second-half. Stevenson, meanwhile, earned just as many successful clears (16) in the game as the Falcons had chances (10-16) on the afternoon.
Consecutive goals by
Cecilia Kjellman and
Carly Bajus cut the Mustangs' lead to 11-7 with 21:28 remaining, but Messiah would not score again until
Lizzy Keeney collected her lone goal of the game when there was under six minutes to play.
Bajus, Kjellman, and
Gabrielle Hamelryck each scored two goals for the Falcons, with Keeney adding two assists to her line.
Taylor Phillips made three saves in the game over more than 42 minutes played, with
Megan Beardsley adding five saves in relief of her teammate. Leanne Bittner made 12 saves in the cage for Stevenson as both teams launched 27 total shots.
They will look to get back in the win column on Saturday, Apr. 20, when they play host to Lebanon Valley at 1:00 p.m.
