Grantham, PA – No. 1 Messiah College raced out to an early lead and won 5-0 on Saturday in the First Round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Four different Falcons tallied the team's first four goals, and
Nikki Elsaesser twice in the win over Staten Island.
The win pushed Messiah to 19-0-2 this season and into a Second Round match-up against either Montclair State or Springfield. Those two teams are scheduled to play on Shoemaker Field this afternoon. The loss ended the season for the Dolphins at 13-5-1.
Messiah was on the attack from the start of the game and nearly scored on multiple chances in the first few minutes. Among those chances were Elsaesser (post) and Weaver (crossbar), but it wasn't until the ninth minute that
Kyele Bridel got one through.
Marisa DeMonte collected the assist on the score after her shot from 20 yards out was blocked, with the carom landing to Bridel eight yards from the left post. She quickly put a shot across the goal for a 1-0 lead.
Less than six minutes later Bridel collected an assist of her own with a long pass from the midfield to Elsaesser's run behind the defense. Elsaesser took possession to a one-on-one chance against Kristy Colangelo.
Now up 2-0, Messiah continued to own territory as the Dolphins struggled to carry any possession over the midfield line. In the 33rd minute they went up 3-0 on a long strike from
Lilly Shover. The goal came from 25 yards out and was Shover's first tally of the season.
Messiah scored another three goals in the second-half to pull away and seal the lopsided win.
Marisa Weaver tallied in the 50th minute off a short pass from Bridel into the box, and in the 59th minute Elsaesser scored her second goal of the game after an offering from
Holly Burgard banged off the post and came to Nikki's feet.
Burgard capped the scoring for Messiah just a few minutes later when she played beautifully behind the defense by
Trisha Tshudy and into the center of the box.
The Falcons outshot the Dolphins 43-1, with Staten Island's lone attempt coming in the 79th minute. Colangelo had a great showing in goal for Staten Island with 14 saves, a number of which came on close-range shots by Messiah.
As mentioned, the Falcons will now play on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the Second Round.
