Grantham, PA – With less than 20 seconds to play in the first overtime period, No. 12 Messiah College earned a corner kick against visiting Albright College on Homecoming Day.
Marisa Weaver raced over to beat the clock for the serve; as it turned out, she had five seconds to spare.
Weaver's corner found
Lydia Eichorn, who was able to put a header underneath the crossbar and into the net for the thrilling game-winner.
The win marks the ninth-consecutive victory for Messiah, and improved their record to 11-2 on the season and 4-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. Albright fell to 9-5-1, and 3-1-1 in conference play.
The Falcons dominated possession throughout the contest and gained a 24-1 advantage in shots, but could not seem to get the go-ahead goal until late. Messiah had numerous opportunities throughout the game, but failed to convert until the last seconds of overtime.
In just the eighth minute of action,
Erin Sollenberger possessed the ball on the edge of the box, when she played the ball square to
Olivia Snare. Instead of turning to shoot, Snare touched the ball to her left to find
Sarah Strachan on an over-lapping run. However, Strachan's shot from 12 yards out from the left side sailed wide of the right post.
Weaver appeared to have the go-ahead goal in the 20th minute, but Alexis Tooney would deny the Falcons. Weaver received the ball on the right side of the box, and took two touches left before ripping a shot on goal. Her shot appeared to heading towards the net, but Tooney punched the ball over the crossbar and kept the game scoreless.
Messiah continued to dominate possession for the remainder of the half, but failed to register a lot of offensive chances. The Lions' defense clogged the box and made it difficult for the Falcons to generate a lot of scoring opportunities, which led to a scoreless first-half despite a 6-1 advantage in shots for Messiah.
Just two minutes into the second-half, Weaver spun past her defender on the left corner of the box and attacked towards the end line. She then crossed the ball on the ground to
Sunny Gelnovatch at the edge of the six, but Tooney made a diving stop to prevent Gelnovatch from putting the Falcons on top.
Later in the half, Weaver and
Lilly Shover had consecutive corner kicks that almost put Messiah ahead. Shover took a corner kick from the left side that bent towards the net, but Tooney was able to punch the ball overtop of the goal for another corner kick. Weaver took the kick from the right side this time. Her kick also bent towards the goal, but Tooney again punched the ball away and continued to keep the Falcons off the board.
With only five minutes in the second-half, Missy Beiner stole possession outside the right corner of the box, and attacked toward the goal. Biener played a cross that Tooney appeared to intercept, but the ball slipped through her hands and in front of the goal. Unfortunately for the Falcons, no one was there to tap it in. With the game still tied at the end of the regulation, the teams would head to overtime.
Midway through the extra period, Weaver maneuvered past defenders inside the Falcons' third and towards the end line on the left side. Weaver found Sollenberger in front of the net for the golden opportunity, but Tooney managed to put a foot on the shot and again clear it away.
Finally in the 100th minute of play, Eichorn notched the game-winner on Messiah's 14th corner kick of the afternoon. The goal was the defender's first of the season, but could not have come at a better time for the Falcons.
Messiah's defense continued their streak of strong performances, as today marked the sixth-consecutive contest where they held their opponent under five shots by only allowing one shot on the afternoon. The game also marked the sixth straight shut-out for the Falcons, and was
Sara Yunez's ninth clean sheet of the season.
The Falcons look to continue their winning streak when they return to action Tuesday night when they travel to Owings Mills, Md. to face conference foe Stevenson University. Kick off is set for 7:00 p.m.
