Owings Mills, MD – No. 11 Messiah erased an early deficit with eight unanswered goals across both periods in an eventual 16-8 win over Stevenson in the MAC Commonwealth opener. Claire Stikeleather and Ida Ehrhardt each tallied four goals in the win, and the Falcons outshot the Mustangs 38-20.
 
The win moved Messiah to 5-2 overall while Stevenson fell to 3-5.
 
Like Riding a Bike
After missing all of last season with an injury, Claire Stikeleather has been easing back onto the field this season. She tallied a goal and an assist in her first three games, but after tallying twice last time out at Dickinson the postgraduate tallied four times in this afternoon's win. It was her highest output since scoring four goals at Lycoming on Apr. 7, 2015, her previous full season in which she led the Falcons with 43 goals and 59 points. Her continued renaissance would be welcome for the Falcons and would undoubtedly make their attack even more of a handful for opposing defenses.
 
Momentous Streak
The Falcons went down 2-1 at the 18:56 mark of the first-half and, after calling for a timeout, the Falcons gave up another goal to go behind 3-1 with 18:21 on the clock. But that's when things changed in a dramatic way as over the next 20:47 of game clock Messiah outscored the Mustangs 8-0 to grab a stronghold of the match. The first goal of the streak was nothing short of brilliant as Jenna Stover curled behind the cage to the left side and passed over the circle to the opposite post for Stephanie Athens' tally. Thirty seconds later Audrey Liberati tied it up after attacking from the midfield and putting one through on the right side.
 
Later, with Messiah leading 5-3, Stikeleather scored back-to-back goals. The last of those two came off the short feed from Jamie Bishop, with Stikeleather controlling impressively off the bounce and firing past goalie Mack Ferguson.
 
The 8-0 run, which at one point included a 5-2 streak of draw control wins, stretched all the way into the second period where Stikeleather tallied once more, this time off a free-position shot.
 
Olivia Monteiro's goals at the 28:02 mark ended the run, but Messiah was firmly in front 9-3 at that point.
 
Defensive Prowess
The Falcons forced the Mustangs into a season-high 23 turnovers, and 11 of those giveaways were caused the Messiah players. Athens led that group with three caused turnovers, with Kathryn Milwicz and Kendra Herbenar each collecting two of their own.
 
The Falcons also held Stevenson to just 20 shots, just 14 of which went on goal. Alexa Dipeso collected five saves and Amber Orner also collected a save in her second appearance of the season.
 
Conference Tilt
It's early in the season, no doubt, but Falcons' win over Stevenson may be a factor in the conference standings a month from now. With both of these teams annually competing for playoff positioning, the win for Messiah is important and sets the Falcons in the right direction.
 
Up Next
Messiah will host Hood College on Wednesday, Mar. 29 at 4:00 p.m. The Blazers are 4-4 overall and have not yet played a conference game. In their current two-game win streak the Blazers have outscored opponents 39-13.