LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In their second National Championship appearance in as many years, Messiah field hockey fell behind early to Middlebury College and could not mount a comeback as they were defeated by a score of 4-0.
 
Messiah's win streak ends at 44 games, and their final record in 2017 will stand at 22-1 for the second-straight season. The Falcons' record in National Championship games falls to a heartbreaking 1-9, with last years' title the lone championship. With the win, Middlebury finishes the season on a 15-game win streak and with a final record of 20-2, taking their third National Championship in program history (1998, 2015, 2017).
 
Despite outshooting Middlebury 12-10, Messiah was kept out of the scoring column for the first time since Sept. 1, 2016 when they were shut out by Shippensburg. The Panthers were able to capitalize on their attempts well, as they scored on half of their eight shots on goal.
 
"They were a phenomenal side and had an excellent game plan and executed it beautifully," said Messiah head coach Brooke Good. "They absolutely pushed us and executed better than us so complete credit goes to them."
 
Falcons Attack Early
Two of Messiah's best chances to score in the contest came in just the fourth and fifth minutes. The first was started by Kezia Loht as she read the eyes of a defender and sprinted up to steal a pass deep in Panther territory. With a 2-on-1 opportunity, Loht took the ball towards goal and dished to Carissa Gehman in front of the cage, but Gehman's shot from five yards out was deflected off the lone defender for a penalty corner.
 
The Falcons ran a very familiar and often successful play on the ensuing corner, as Taylor Holt sent the ball in to Kristin Donohue for the stick stop at the top of the circle. Gehman stepped up and blasted a screamer towards goal that found its way through the defense and past Panther goalie Abby Furdak, but clanged off the inside of the near post and ricocheted all the way out to the far corner.
 
Panthers Pounce
Middlebury did not let Messiah build any momentum from the early chances, as they would dominate for a 15-minute stretch beginning at the 9:30 mark, earning six penalty corners and scoring three times on seven shots. On the second corner, Annie Leonard's attempt was saved and knocked down by Shelby Landes, but it fell right into the lap of Kelly Coyle on the near post for an easy tap-in to open the scoring.
 
Three minutes later, it was a defensive lapse that spelled trouble for the Falcons, as Mackenzie Brubaker tried to swing the ball along Messiah's back line, but Shayna Landis was unable to cleanly handle her pass. Panther All-American Grace Jennings knew just what to do with the mistake, as she sprinted forward and stole the ball from Landis before beating goalie Landes one-on-one to put Middlebury up 2-0.
 
In the 19th minute, Jennings was once again the catalyst for the Panthers, as she sprinted down the far sideline past multiple Messiah defenders and created a 3-on-2 opportunity deep in Falcon territory. This time, Jennings recorded the assist, as she found Julia Richards in the middle for a wide-open shot through Landes' legs and into the cage.
 
The Panthers were very good on penalty corners with quick, deliberate passing that would keep any defense reeling. Passing was definitely their strong suit, as they lead the nation this season in assists per game at 3.10.
 
Messiah Nearly Gets One Back
The Falcons had an opportunity to cut the Panther lead to two just before the break as they pressured with a pair of penalty corners. Holt started the play on the second corner with a pass to Donohue, who found Kaylor Rosenberry open on the right side for a shot that beat Furdak, but unfortunately for the Falcons was met by Marissa Baker on the goal line and cleared away for the defensive save.
 
Messiah came out strong in the second-half, earning five penalty corners and taking three shots, one of which was a Karalyn Schmidt attempt that deflected off a defender's stick and hit the post, but was cleared out of danger by the Panthers.
 
More for Middlebury
In their first real chance of the second-half, Middlebury earned their seventh penalty corner of the contest at the 48:51 mark. Audrey Quirk sent the ball in for a shot from Emma Johns that was saved by Landes. The ball got knocked around in the circle by multiple players for a few seconds before it found its way to a wide-open Quirk on the near post who had snuck in behind the play after sending in the corner. Quirk tapped in the chance to give Middlebury a 4-0 lead with just over 20 minutes to play.
 
Middlebury's extremely balanced offensive attack was on display in the championship game, as Quirk's goal made it four different Panthers tallying in tonight's contest. During the season, Middlebury saw nine players, all of the starters besides one defender and the keeper, score at least five goals and record at least 15 points.
 
With time running out on the Falcons' unblemished record, much of the final 20 minutes was played in the midfield, as the two teams combined for just one corner and four shots, none of which were very close to finding the cage. With the 4-0 win, Middlebury avenged a 4-2 Third Round loss last season at the hands of Messiah. Today was the fifth time that the Falcons and Panthers had met in history, all in NCAA Tournament action, and the victory gives Middlebury a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series.
 
What A Season
Messiah was just the 28th team in NCAA Division III history to enter the tournament undefeated, and 2017 was the third time that the program has done so. With last years' four wins and the three this season, Messiah is now tied for the sixth-longest NCAA Tournament win streak in Division III field hockey history at seven games. The four goals that the Falcons gave up in the championship game was equaled just once this year by opponents in the season-opener against York, and Messiah gave up one or no goals in 20 of their 23 games.
 
After the conclusion of the game, seniors Kristin Donohue, Nicole Wilkerson, and Carissa Gehman were named to the all-tournament team. The nine-person senior class will definitely be missed, especially Carissa Gehman, who will go down as one of the top field hockey players in Messiah history.
 
"It's been really great, and I've been blessed to play at Messiah and play under some amazing coaches," Gehman said after the game. "It's just really been a blessing and something I'll cherish for the rest of my life." The forward finishes her illustrious career with 104 goals and 232 points, marks that are both second in program history.