XML Box Score Grantham, PA – Seven different players collected either a goal or an assist to help No. 2 Messiah College to an 8-0 win over Eastern University.
Nikki Elsaesser scored three times for the Falcons and finished with seven points on the night.
The win moved Messiah to 6-0; Eastern fell to 2-5.
The Falcons patiently settled into their attack early in the game and managed to get into the box for a few shots that went off or over the crossbar. Elsaesser broke through for the game's first goal in the 19th minute after getting a pass from
Marisa DeMonte above the 18 and spinning quickly for a sharp strike to the left side of the goal.
Just over three minutes later Elsaesser scored again, this time taking a feed from
Marisa Weaver on a run into the attacking third. She carried all the way into the box and went one-on-one with keeper Jules Leco for the score.
Leading 2-0, the Falcons continued to slice through the Eagles' defense. In the 25th minute
Marisa Weaver took a pass on her run to the top of the 18 and fired with her left foot for the goal, and five minutes after that
Regina Stump scored on a similar play. Stump's goal, the first of her career, came from a sharper angle and she needed to elude Leco's approach.
The four first-half goals came on just 12 shots. In the second-half they would launch another 22 shots, and add another four tallies.
Clapper made it 5-0 in the 50th minute with a header from eight yards out, a perfect shot off a serve from Weaver outside the corner of the 18. Five minutes later, the Falcons scored once more, and again it was Elsaesser putting it through as she found a one-on-one opportunity against the run of play; Elsaesser's first touch was almost enough for Leco to grab, but Nikki beat the keeper to ball, touched right, and slide into a shot that barely pushed the ball over the goal line.
With the Falcons dominating, two more goals would come. Weaver added her second of the game in the 64th minute off a double-assist from
Kyele Bridel and
Erin Sollenberger, and Stump also scored once more off a cross from
Olivia Snare.
When the final horn sounded Messiah held a 34-0 edge in shots and 10-1 edge in corners.
The Falcons will next play on Saturday, Sept. 20 when they play host to No. 10 Misericordia on Shoemaker Field. The game will be a rematch of both last year's double-overtime draw and Messiah's 3-0 win in the 2012 NCAA Final Four.
