WASHINGTON, D.C. - Kezia Loht scored two goals to lead No. 1 Messiah field hockey to a 4-0 win over Catholic University of America on Wednesday night.
 
The Falcons outshot the Cardinals by a 14-8 margin on the night, placing nine shots on goal compared to Catholic's six. While Messiah was impressive on the offensive end with the four goals, it was the defense that really stepped up in the victory, keeping the Cardinals from scoring off of nine penalty corners.
 
Falcons Fly to First-Half Advantage
Carissa Gehman and Kristin Donohue had a couple of decent chances to score in the opening ten minutes, but neither was able to find the cage for the opening goal. In the 21st minute, Kezia Loht scored her third goal of the season from the left side to put the Falcons up 1-0.
 
Less than seven minutes later, Loht again found herself with the ball deep in Cardinal territory. This time, her cross into the box got knocked around a few times before Gehman was able to get her stick on it and push it across the goal line to put the Falcons up by two. With that goal, Gehman is now tied with Jenna Schwind '05 and Cindy Toms '96 for fourth all-time in Messiah program history with 174 career points.
 
Landes Steps Up Under Pressure
While the Cardinals did not score a goal in the game, they definitely put pressure on Landes in goal, especially in the second-half when they earned six of their nine penalty corners in the contest. Landes recorded a season-high six saves, with none bigger than what occurred in the 30th minute as the Falcons looked to head into halftime carrying a two-goal cushion.
 
Catholic had the ball on Messiah's defensive end, and a foul on the Falcons in front of the cage set up a penalty stroke opportunity for the Cardinals. Catholic senior and second-leading scorer Rachel Day stepped up to take the stroke and ripped a shot towards the upper left-hand corner of the cage. Landes saw it all the way and reached up with both hands to punch it aside and out of play.
 
Falcons Add Insurance
Six minutes in to the second-half, Kezia Loht scored on her patented loft shot off a penalty corner feed from Taylor Holt to increase the Messiah advantage to 3-0. With the goal, Loht has positioned herself second on the team in the early going with four goals and 11 points while also leading Messiah with three assists.
 
With three minutes left in regulation, Casie Steif was bound and determined to score a goal, as she took back-to-back shots that were saved and blocked, respectively, before getting an opportunity on a penalty stroke after a Cardinal defender covered up the ball right in front of the cage. Stief stepped up and slipped the ball past the goalie's right shoulder and in for her first goal of the year.
 
In the final 70 seconds, Catholic threatened multiple times, as they earned three penalty corners and took three shots. However, the Falcon defense was once again up to the task, as the first shot was blocked and the following two were each saved by Landes, who earned her second shutout of the season.
 
Next Up
The Falcons improve to 6-0 on the year, and now look to Saturday when they begin MAC Commonwealth play by hosting Alvernia University at 1:00 p.m.