Haverford, PA - Carissa Gehman registered a hat trick and the No. 8 Messiah College field hockey team scored four times in the first-half to cruise to a 7-0 victory over Haverford College on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Falcons' first win of the season improved their record to 1-1, while the Fords fell to 1-1. Across program history, Messiah has now won all eight meetings between the two teams.
 
Messiah outshot Haverford by a wide margin of 20-6, with 17 of those going on goal. Due to the onslaught of shots by the Falcons, Haverford goalie Danielle Rette edged Shelby Landes in the saves category (10-3).
 
Less than three minutes into the contest, Moriah Pfautz found Gehman on a breakaway, who was able to flick the ball past the goalie to give Messiah a quick 1-0 advantage. After a barrage of four shots in a span of 90 seconds, Pfautz got past a defender and snuck a goal just inside the right corner post at the 9:39 mark.
 
The Falcon lead was pushed to 3-0 midway through the first-half as Gehman scored her second goal of the game on a penalty stroke.
 
With ten minutes remaining in the period, Kezia Loht fired a strong pass into the circle to Taylor Wiederrecht, who took a shot that was deflected into the goal by a Ford defender. The tally was Wiederrecht's first career goal.
 
Messiah took the 4-0 advantage into the break, outshooting Haverford 13-1 and sending 11 of those on goal. The Falcons also held a 4-2 advantage in penalty corners.
 
The offensive attack did not let up in the second period; Gehman scored again off a deflection in the 45th minute, completing her third career hat trick. Ten minutes later, Emily Rubright found the back of the net to push the Messiah advantage to 6-0.
 
Messiah would score their seventh and final goal of the game off a penalty corner with five minutes remaining. The ball was sent in by Kristin Donohue and found its way over to Kaylor Rosenberry, who directed a pass to the near post that was easily touched in by Logan Ryan. The goal was the first of the sophomore forward's career.
 
Haverford did manage to record five shots in the second period, with four going on goal. Landes and Megan Bomba, who entered the game with fifteen minutes remaining, combined for the shutout.
 
Gehman recorded her three goals on five shots, and Pfautz finished with a goal and the game-winning assist.
 
Messiah will look to build a winning streak against No. 4 Ursinus College on Wednesday, Sept. 7.  The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. on Messiah's Anderson Field.