Grantham, PA - The No. 1 Messiah field hockey team scored five times in the first-half en route to a 5-1 defeat of conference opponent Albright College on Wednesday evening.
 
Messiah outshot Albright 20-3, and 11-2 on goal, while also gaining four more penalty corners than the Lions. With the victory, the Falcons move to 11-1 on the year and 4-0 in the conference, while the Lions drop to 9-2 (2-2).
 
Messiah got the first-half scoring barrage started in the 11th minute. Off a penalty corner, Moriah Pfautz took a shot from the top of the circle that was knocked down by the goalkeeper, but fell to Kristin Donohue on the right side for the easy tap in.
 
Six minutes later, it was Donohue again with her fifth goal of the season. After a penalty corner attempt was broken, Albright failed to clear the ball out of their defensive end and turned it over to Kaylor Rosenberry on the right side. She sent a pass in to Nicole Wilkerson in front of goal, who controlled and sent the ball back to Donohue at the top of the circle for a hard shot that deflected off the goalkeeper's leg and in for the goal.
 
In the 19th minute, Wilkerson brought the ball up the middle and sent a pass to Emily Rubright just outside the top of the circle. Rubright fired a quick pass to Carissa Gehman, who beat a defender to the right side and ripped a shot that flew past the keeper and slammed into the back of the cage. The goal was Gehman's 15th of the season, good for the team lead.
 
Just before halftime, the Falcons received back-to-back goals from Logan Ryan in a span of less than two minutes. On the first, at the 31:04 mark, Donohue fired in a pass from 20 yards out to Ryan at the top of the circle, who controlled, spun, and sent a low liner through the defense and into the goal for the score.
 
Ryan wasted no time in collecting her second goal, when Kezia Loht sent in a penalty corner to Donohue, who directed it over to a wide-open Ryan on the right side. She had plenty of time to wind up and send a screaming line drive into the cage. The two goals were Ryan's fourth and fifth of the season.
 
At the half, Messiah held a 5-0 lead and had outshot the Lions 18-0 (11-0 on goal). The Falcons recorded six corners to the Lions' one in the half.
 
Albright did not quit, playing a solid second-half that only saw two shots from Messiah compared to three for the Lions. They would get on the board in the 63rd minute, when Kasey Neiderer sent  a long pass down the field to a streaking Marley Berger, who was able to stretch and redirect the ball past Shelby Landes for the goal.
 
The Falcon defense would not allow another shot for the remainder of the game, ensuring the 5-1 victory.
 
Donohue and Ryan were the stars of the match, each tallying two goals and taking four and three shots, respectively. Donohue added to her fantastic all-around game with two assists, giving her six points on the night as she was involved with four of Messiah's five goals.
 
The win ran Messiah's all-time record against Albright to 28-0.
 
The Falcons next play again at home on Saturday against Arcadia. Set on Messiah's homecoming, game time is slated for 1:00 p.m.