GRANTHAM, Pa. – Brooke Firestone scored a pair of first-half goals to lead No. 7 Messiah women's soccer to a 2-0 victory over Lebanon Valley College in MAC Commonwealth semifinal action on Thursday night.
 
The Falcons advance to the MAC Commonwealth final for the 18th year in a row, and will look to claim their 16th conference championship during that stretch. Messiah dominated from start to finish, taking 18 shots and earning 14 penalty corners while LVC managed one shot and no corners in the contest.
 
Brooke's Bookends
Messiah controlled possession for almost all of the first-half, only allowing one shot by the Dutchmen and limited possession on their defensive half. In the 5th minute, Sunny Gelnovatch started a break for the Falcons with a beautiful through-ball to Firestone on the left side of the field. With just the keeper to beat, Firestone ripped a shot from just inside the box that curled around the keeper and into the back of the net for her sixth goal of the year.
 
The Falcons had a few more decent chances to score throughout the rest of the opening period, including a shot by Megan Mansfield that was saved at the goal line by a defender, but could not find the net until exactly one minute was left on the first-half clock. Firestone notched her second goal of the game after picking up a loose ball in the box and blasting it into an open right side of the net. Coming at opposite ends of the opening half, it was the sophomore's first game with multiple goals this season.
 
Chance After Chance
The second-half was full of opportunities for the Falcons, as they took – shots and earned – corners in the period. However, LVC's defense held strong and kept Messiah off the board throughout the 45 minutes.
 
The Falcons had two great chances back-to-back in the 73rd and 75th minutes, beginning with a throw from the left sideline. Kyne brought the ball down to her feet on the edge of the box, spun to her left to beat her defender and ripped a strike towards the near post that took a leaping, one-handed effort from Dutchmen keeper Emma Strickler to turn away. Moments later, Firestone sent a beautiful cross through the box from the right side that just missed the head of Megan Mansfield, but fell to a streaking Emily Lockwood for an open left-footed shot that sailed over the crossbar.
 
Next Up
The Falcons improve to 14-1-3 on the year, and will face second-seeded Arcadia University in the MAC Commonwealth final for the third-straight season on Saturday. Arcadia defeated third-seed Widener 3-0 in the other conference semifinal tonight in Glenside. In their regular-season matchup on Oct. 10, Messiah scored three times in the second-half to take down the Knights 3-0 on Shoemaker Field.