ANNVILLE, Pa. – No. 2 Messiah women's soccer claimed a 4-0 victory over the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Wednesday afternoon to improve to 11-1-0 on the season and 4-0-0 in the MAC Commonwealth.
Megan Mansfield came off the bench and scored a pair of goals for the Falcons while
Brooke Firestone and
Maddie Kohl each netted one in the victory.
Kohl got the scoring started in the 20th minute on a header from
Sarah Strachan before Mansfield scored the first of her two tallies in the 29th minute.
After halftime,
Brooke Firestone scored just 87 seconds into the second-half, taking advantage of a misplay by the Dutchmen in the 47th minute. Mansfield finished off her brace in the 73rd minute by cleaning up a corner kick that was loose in the box.
The Falcons outshot the Dutchmen 22-2 in the match and will next take the field on Saturday when they travel to Reading to take on Alvernia on the Golden Wolves' homecoming at 4:00 p.m.
First-Half Lead
The Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute off a header from
Maddie Kohl. Messiah pushed the ball deep into the right corner of the field with
Sarah Strachan carrying all the way to the end line before sending a low cross into the middle of the box for Kohl. The sophomore redirected the cross towards the left post and past the keeper for her sixth goal of the year.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Falcons doubled their lead with a burst of speed from
Megan Mansfield down the left-side. Two quick passes got the Falcons out of the backline and sprung Mansfield down the sideline. The speedy junior picked up the past, blew by her defender and went to goal, beating the keeper high to bump the Messiah lead to 2-0.
Quick Start to the Second
Messiah quickly jumped on a misplay by the Lebanon Valley defense in the opening minutes of the second-half. The Dutchmen sent a pass negative past the backline and toward their keeper.
Brooke Firestone intervened and touched the ball around a sliding keeper to the right before rolling a shot into a wide-open goal for her 12th score of the season.
The goal gave Messiah a 3-0 advantage less than 90 seconds into the second period.
Mansfield Cleans Up a Corner
In the 73rd minute Messiah earned a corner kick and Lily Shover sent a ball into the box that was knocked around by the LVC defense, but remained in the box. After the ball hit the turf in the middle of the six,
Megan Mansfield slid into the ball, slotting her shot into the right-side of the net for the 4-0 Messiah lead.
The Falcons continued their pressure late in the half with a half dozen more shots in the final 17 minutes. Firestone was the closest to adding to the Messiah lead with her attempt in the 77th minute rattling off the crossbar.
Despite Firestone's shot being cleared away, Messiah held on for the 4-0 victory.
What's Up Next
With the victory, Messiah moves to 11-1-0 on the season and improves to 4-0-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons will take the field on Saturday when they travel to take on the Alvernia Golden Wolves on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. The Golden Wolves will host the Falcons on their homecoming and currently hold a 2-8-2 overall (1-2-0 conference) record.
