READING, Pa. – Nicole Wilkerson scored four minutes into overtime to lead No. 1 Messiah field hockey to a nail-biting 2-1 victory over Albright College on Thursday night. After a Karalyn Scmidt goal 90 seconds in, the Falcons were held scoreless throughout the rest of regulation before Wilkerson's game-winner.
 
Messiah finishes the regular-season conference slate a perfect 7-0, improving to 16-0 on the season. Albright falls to 8-8 overall and 4-3 in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
No Time Wasted
Messiah got on the board almost as quickly as possible, created by an earned penalty corner just 90 seconds into the game. Taylor Holt sent the ball in to Nicole Wilkerson, who slid it over to Karalyn Schmidt for the shot and score to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
 
Albright Fires Right Back
After a few saves on Messiah attempts, the Lions got a chance of their own at the 17:00 mark. Tracy Snyder managed to find a wide-open Amanda Long on the left side of the cage, where long wasted no time in slipping the ball under Shelby Landes' stick to tie the game up at one apiece. It was the first time that Messiah had been tied with an opponent at a score other than 0-0 since the third game of the season, in which they were knotted at one with Salisbury until an overtime game-winner.
 
The Falcons received a fantastic opportunity with eight minutes to play in the opening period as they were awarded a penalty stroke. Shayna Landis stepped up with hopes of regaining the lead, but her attempt to the right side of the cage was knocked away by a diving Aileen Taylor. The score would remain tied at one at halftime, despite Messiah holding a 14-3 (8-2 on goal) advantage in shots and a 6-2 advantage in penalty corners.
 
Defensive Struggle
Messiah held the ball on their attacking end for most of the second-half, but were unable to find many open looks on the cage. With a renewed energy from the tie game at half, Albright's defense played extremely well, holding the Falcons to just two shots in the period. Messiah's best chance came as the clock was winding down, when they received a penalty corner with nine seconds to play in regulation. However, a struggle in front of the cage was eventually cleared away by the Lions, and the game would head to overtime tied at one.
 
Falcons Will Not Be Denied
Messiah got an incredible opportunity just two and a half minutes into overtime with their second earned penalty stroke of the game. However, Carissa Gehman's attempt was again turned aside by Taylor, who had what had to be one of the best games of her career with 11 saves, including the two off of penalty strokes.
 
Just a minute and a half later, the Falcons were knocking on the door again after an Albright turnover on their defensive end. Kezia Loht brought the ball up the middle of the field and slotted it to Kristin Donohue at the top of the cage. Donohue then took a try towards goal that was deflected, but fell right to an open Nicole Wilkerson on the left side of the cage for an easy tap-in to win the game.
 
Next Up
The Falcons will look to complete a perfect regular season on Saturday when they host the Herons of William Smith College at noon. After that it's on to MAC Commonwealth tournament action, when as the one-seed they will again face four-seed Albright, but at home this time.