Huntingdon, PA – Carissa Gehman scored twice and the No. 3 Messiah College field hockey team defeated Juniata College by a score of 3-0.
 
Messiah improved to 4-1 and remain undefeated against NCAA Division III opponents, while Juniata dropped to 0-4.
 
Messiah dominated the play in the first-half, keeping the ball on their offensive end for much of the period. The Falcons earned an astonishing 10 penalty corners in the half, including a stretch of seven minutes from the 23rd to the 30th that saw six, with one of them leading to a goal.
 
In the 28th minute, Taylor Wiederrecht took the corner and sent it into the box, where Karalyn Schmidt took a shot that was saved by Eagle goalie Kylie Edwards. The rebound fell right to Logan Ryan, who seized the opportunity and slammed it into the cage for her second goal of the season.
 
Messiah managed to put four of their seven shots on goal in the opening period and held Juniata completely out of the shot column with very strong defensive play.
 
Less than two minutes into the second-half, Messiah earned their 11th penalty corner of the game. Taylor Holt sent it to Gehman at the top of the circle, who controlled the ball and sent a powerful shot inside the right post for her sixth goal of the year.
 
Gehman would score her second goal of the game the more traditional way in the 53rd minute as she received a pass from Megan Wetzel, sidestepped an Eagle defender, and scored from just in front of the cage.
 
Juniata's best scoring chance came with ten minutes to play as they managed to get the ball into the circle and take two shots from point-blank range that Shelby Landes was able to knock down for her only saves of the night.
 
For the game, Messiah outshot Juniata 14-3 (8-2 on goal) and held a sizeable advantage on penalty corners of 14-0.
 
Gehman paced the Falcon offense with her two goals on six shots. Ryan scored on her lone shot of the game and Karalyn Schmidt added three shots (two on goal) off the bench.
 
With the victory, Messiah improves to 38-2-1 all-time against Juniata.
 
The Falcons resume their tough preseason schedule as they host another NFHCA top-10 team on Saturday - The College of New Jersey Lions. Messiah will be looking to avenge two defeats last season at the hands of TCNJ, the second of which came in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m. on Anderson Field.