Dallas, PA - No. 2 Messiah College scored three first-half goals en route to a 3-0 in at No. 9 Misercordia University on Saturday evening. The win pushed Messiah to 5-0-1 while keeper
Audra Larson tied the NCAA women's soccer record with her 59th career shutout.
Larson's shutout mark came in her 81st career game, an incredible feat considering that the previous record holder, Chelsea Parise of Division II Grand Valley State, collected her 59 shutouts in 101 career games.
In the victory today, Larson collected three saves on just six shots by the Cougars.
In contrary, Messiah's offense produced 22 shots, including 14 in the first-half when they tallied all three of their goals.
Macaulay Soto put the Falcons up in just the eighth minute when she fired through a loose ball in the box. The play was initiated by
Marisa Weaver's serve on the left side, and it was battled around before falling outside the six and to the feet of Soto.
In the 25th minute Messiah went up 2-0 on a goal by
Holly Burgard. Her fourth goal of the year came off a feed from
Kyele Bridel, as Burgard was slotted into the box and sent her shot inside the right post.
With momentum completely on their side the Falcons scored their third goal in the 32nd minute off a brilliant header from Bridel. The goal came off a set from just outside the right side of the box, and
Skylar Ulry's serve was perfectly placed to the six. Bridel leapt up for the redirection and goal, her third of the season.
The result was a far cry from recent matches with the Cougars, the last two which totaled for just a single goal; Messiah and Misericorida played to a scoreless draw in 2013, and the Falcons took a 1-0 double-overtime win last season. In that 2013 game Messiah did outshoot the host Cougars 34-7, but they couldn't get the score. Today, however, the team found more than one way to get on the board.
Messiah will continue their four-game road streak on Tuesday when they travel to Eastern University. They will take on the Eagles at 4:00 p.m. before returning to Shoemaker Field to play PSU-Berks on Friday, Sept. 25.
