GRANTHAM, Pa. - Senior Lydia Eichorn scored with less than five minutes to play in the first-half, and No. 7 Messiah women's soccer tallied twice more late in the second period to defeat Stevenson University 3-0 on Senior Day Saturday at Shoemaker Field.
 
With the win, the Falcons improve to 13-1-3 overall and finish up regular season conference play unbeaten at 7-0-1. The Falcons outshot the Mustangs 35-2 and 17-0 on goal throughout the contest.
 
Mustangs Under Fire
The entire first-half saw the ball stay on Messiah's attacking end for the vast majority of the play. It was fairly surprising that it took Messiah over 40 minutes to score, as they came up empty on their first 17 shots of the game. However, on their eighth corner kick of the first half at the 40:42 mark, Maddie Kohl sent in a beautiful looping cross to the middle of the box. Lydia Eichorn had the ball played perfectly, rising up to head it past Mustang keeper Tiffany McKee and give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
 
Second-Half, Same Story
It was déjà vu in the second period, as Messiah fired 14 shots over the first 36 minutes without finding the back of the net. Much of the credit for keeping the Falcons off the board on many of the shots goes to McKee, who had numerous diving saves among her 14 on the afternoon.
 
Back-to-Back
Despite her valiant effort, Messiah finally broke through again against McKee late in the second-half with two goals in a span of 56 seconds. Julia Kyne found some space on the far side of the field to send in a sharp cross to a wide-open Megan Mansfield in front of goal. Mansfield took her time, settled the ball, and knocked in her team-leading eighth goal of the season to double the Falcon lead.
 
As mentioned, it took Messiah less than a minute to tally again, as Sunny Gelnovatch sent a great through-ball to Brooke Firestone running down the left side. Firestone beat her defender to the baseline and sent a low cross across the box to Sarah Strachan on the far post, who poked it into an open net. With the assist, Firestone takes hold of the MAC Commonwealth lead with her tenth of the season.
 
Stevenson didn't manage a shot on goal in the game, and Lydia Ewing earned her 12th shutout of the season, including an incredible 11th in a row dating back to Sept. 20th. During that stretch, the Falcons have outscored opponents 41-0.
 
Next Up
Messiah will have a few days to prep before hosting a MAC Commonwealth Semifinal match next Thursday as the top seed. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. Their opponent will be the winner of the play-in game on Tuesday between No. 4-seeded Albright and No. 5-seeded Lebanon Valley.