Grantham, PA - Taylor Holt scored two goals, including the game-winner with 90 seconds left to play, and the No. 8 Messiah field hockey team upset No. 7 Salisbury on a very hot and humid Saturday afternoon.

With the score tied at two and time running out, Shayna Landis dribbled the ball up the right side, spun around a defender, and sent a pass into the circle. Kaylor Rosenberry redirected the ball to the left side, where Holt was waiting to blast a low liner past the Salisbury goalkeeper's right leg. The goal set off a celebration, though it wouldn't be for almost two minutes that the win was secure-- especially as the Seagulls earned a final penalty corner as time expired.
 
With the victory, the Falcons improved to 3-1 on the season, while Salisbury received their first defeat and fell to 3-1.
 
Early momentum belonged to the Seagulls as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after nine minutes. Seven minutes before halftime, Messiah cut their deficit in half when Kristin Donohue sent a ball in to the circle that was redirected into the corner of the cage by Holt.
 
Salisbury took the 2-1 lead into the break, even though Messiah outshot the Seagulls 7-3 in the opening period. Salisbury gained two penalty corners, which led to both of their goals.
 
Ten minutes in to the second-half, Messiah earned a penalty corner that was played in to Lindsay Bower, whose shot was saved by Salisbury's goalkeeper. However, the Seagulls were whistled for a foul on the play, giving Messiah a great chance to tie the score with a penalty stroke. Carissa Gehman came in to take the penalty, and didn't give the goalkeeper a chance as she blasted the ball into the top of the cage.
 
Now tied, and determined to not give up a game-winner, both teams stepped up their defense to allow only two more shots apiece. With 5:30 to play, Messiah very nearly broke the deadlock when Moriah Pfautz weaved her way through two defenders and took a shot that just missed the cage by inches.
 
Nevertheless, four minutes later Holt took the feed from Rosenberry and scored the game-winner to give Messiah a 3-2 lead. As mentioned, things got very tight at the end when the Seagulls earned one more penalty corner. With both of their goals already collected via corner opportunities, it was much to the crowd's delight to see the ball soon cleared away from the cage to secure the upset win. The victory also marked Messiah's first win over the Seagulls since they beat them twice during the 2010 season.
 
For the game, the Falcons outshot the Seagulls 12-7 (5-2 on goal) and Salisbury doubled up Messiah on penalty corners by a 4-2 margin.
 
Holt paced the Falcon offense her two goals on three shots. Gehman sent in four shots to go with her goal, and Rosenberry and Donohue each contributed assists in the victory.
 
The Falcons look to run their winning streak to four when they travel to Juniata College next Wednesday. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.