Grantham, PA – No. 8 Messiah College used big performances from Sunny Gelnovatch and Olivia Snare to defeat Hood College 6-0 Wednesday night. On Senior Night for the Falcons, it was the first-year midfielder Gelnovatch who notched her second-career hat trick that pushed the Falcons ahead early, with Snare also tallying a goal and two assists on the evening. Julia Kyne and Megan Mansfield also added goals for Messiah.

The win pushed Messiah's record to 14-2 on the year and a perfect 7-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. Hood fell to 3-11-2 and 0-6-1 in conference play.

The Falcon offense did not waste time, as they raced ahead of the Blazers in the ninth minute of the game. Olivia Snare played a ball down the left side to Sarah Strachan on an over-lapping run. Strachan took the ball and advanced in the box. She then crossed the ball on the ground along the six yard mark, where Gelnovatch was waiting to knock it home to give Messiah an early advantage.

In the 22nd minute, Gelnovatch struck again in a very similar manner for the Falcons. Marisa Weaver laid the ball off to Snare on the left side, who advanced towards the end line. Snare then crossed the ball on the ground along the six yard mark, where Gelnovatch was again waiting to punch it home to put Messiah ahead 2-0.

The Falcons continued to dominate possession and launch shots at the Blazers defense, but could not score their third goal in the first-half, and took a 2-0 lead into the break.

The second-half also started with a bang for the Falcons, as Snare scored her only goal on the night just 2:30 into play. Missy Biener began to probe the Blazer defense on the right side, but turned to play it back to Snare about 30 yards out. She took one touch toward the goal and ripped a shot from 25 yards out that snuck inside the left post for the beautiful goal that put Messiah up by three.

Later in the half, Skylar Ulry advanced towards the top right corner of the box and ripped a shot that Knoebel made an incredible save, however the ball bounced away from Knoebel in front of the box. Sunny Gelnovatch came sprinting in to knock it home and tally her third of the game in the 60th minute.

In the 75th minute, the Falcons added their first goal by way of a corner. Lilly Shover sent the corner into the center of the box, where Kyne was able to get a foot on the ball and direct it past Knoebel for the fifth goal of the evening. Kyne was able to find the right spot among a crowd of both Falcons and Blazers to put a foot on it and notch her fourth of the season.

Only 41 seconds later, the Falcons struck again on Mansfield's goal. Mansfield played a cross to the left side of the box, where Kate Shults got a foot on the ball, but Knoebel again made the save. However, the keeper again could not control the ball and Mansfield came in to knock into the net. The final two goals of the night were a mere 41 seconds apart, which is the 12th fastest in program history.

Messiah dominated possession and field position throughout the contest, which led to the Falcons taking an eye-opening 51 shots on the night. That offensive outburst is the most shots in a single game since Oct. 22, 2011, when the Falcons attempted 56 shots against Alvernia.

The defense was also stingy yet again, as the Messiah defense did not allow the Blazers to attempt a single shot for the second time this season. Sara Yunez earned her ninth shutout of the season and her third in the last four games.

The Falcons return to action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Glenside, PA to face Arcadia University in a MAC Commonwealth showdown. The winner of Saturday's conference will determine the No. 1 seed for the MAC Commonwealth playoffs that begin next week. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m.