Owings Mills, MD -
Moriah Pfautz tallied twice and No. 20 Messiah College scored four times in a 4-2 in over Stevenson University on Saturday night. The Falcons collected 12 shots and allowed just two shots on frame to the Mustangs as they also moved to 2-0 in the MAC Commonwealth.
Pfautz put the Falcons on the board early after putting through a pass from
Lindsay Bower in the 10th minute. Pfautz's redirection on the ball from Bower was at just the right angle for the goal.
Stevenson tied the game soon after, doing so off the stick of Holli Eppley in the 18th minute. Eppley scored after taking a short pass inside the circle for a quick shot past
Shelby Landes.
Despite giving up momentum to the hosts, Messiah responded to take another lead less than 10 minutes later. This score game from
Carissa Gehman when she redirected a pass from
Emily Rubright for her seventh goal of the season. It was also the fourth-straight game that Gehman has tallied for the Falcons.
In the second-half Pfautz gave the Falcons a quick 3-1 lead with a tally after just two minutes of play. Her goal was un assisted after she got into the circle for a close look at the cage.
The Falcons' 3-1 lead held up until there were less than six minutes to play, but not without some great defensive effort. The Falcons' defense was especially impressive on back-to-back-to-back penalty corners by the Mustangs midway through the frame. Landes and the rest of the back line was solid to either block shots or push them wide, protecting the lead.
Stevenson did break through with just over five minutes to play, with an impressive one-on-one move by Rosemarie Neiva leading to a strong shot from 10 yards out. Her lofted shot went off the glove of Landes before trickling over the goal line.
Messiah answered with a terrific goal minutes later, solidifying the win.
Taylor Holt did the honors off a long feed from
Kaylor Rosenberry, with the shot come from just in front of the left post.
As mentioned, the win pushed No. 20 Messiah to 2-0 in the Commonwealth. They also moved to 6-4 overall, and they've now won four-straight games.
The Falcons return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 7 when they host Gettysburg College at 7:00 p.m.
