GENEVA, N.Y. - Playing on the same field they claimed the 2016 National Championship, the No. 2 Messiah field hockey team grinded their way to another victory in Geneva, N.Y. on Saturday. While the stakes were slightly different this time around, the result was mostly the same. Messiah earned a 3-0 victory over the William Smith Herons in very chilly and wet conditions.
 
The victory completes the Falcons' second-straight undefeated regular season, moving Messiah to 17-0 on the year heading into the postseason.
 
The Falcons controlled the territory battle all afternoon long, only allowing two shots to the Herons while taking 40 of their own.
 
Messiah will next take the field on Wednesday when they host the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen in the MAC Commonwealth semifinals at 7:00 p.m. on Anderson Field.
 
Early Chances
Kris Levesque earned a breakaway thanks to a long through ball ahead in the ninth minute, but a dive to the right by the Herons' goalie, Alexandra DeVito thwarted the Messiah opportunity and kept the match scoreless.
 
In the 19th minute, Kezia Loht sent an aerial shot towards cage, but DeVito was once again there to knock the attempt out of the air, turning Messiah away.
 
In the 22nd minute, the Falcons had back-to-back penalty corners and after a Wetzel attempt was blocked on the first corner, Kezia Loht sent a dangerous shot from the left-side on the second corner. Loht's shot was deflected just outside the left-post by the Herons' defense.
 
The Herons put together dangerous moments in the final minutes of the first-half with sustained pressure for William Smith resulting in a pair of shots. Shelby Landes turned the only attempt on cage away and the match remained scoreless heading into halftime.
 
Breaking Through
Off a penalty corner with 30 minutes remaining in regulation, Messiah used a number of connected passes to get the ball to the left-side of the cage. Kris Levesque took the first shot, but it was saved on the end line but the Herons' Bennett Tierney saved it on the end line and a scramble on the goal line ensued. With a number of Falcons and Herons battling for possession on the goal line, Kaylor Rosenberry eventually pushed the ball across the goal line for the 1-0 Messiah lead.
 
The tally was the first of the season for Rosenberry and was all of the offense that the Falcons would need in the shutout victory.
 
Messiah threatened throughout the entire second-half, taking a total of 24 shots in the final 35 minutes and putting 17 of them on cage, but they were held to just the one goal until the 66th minute when Taylor Wiederrecht gave the Falcons some breathing room with her fifth goal of the season. Wiederrecht's tally came off a rebound from a Hannah Palm shot.
 
Less than three minutes later, Hannah Palm capped off the victory and the regular season for the Falcons with her eighth goal of the season with just over a minute left in the game.
 
The Falcons controlled possession throughout the match, out shooting the Herons 40-2 in the contest while completing their perfect regular season with a 3-0 victory an overall record of 17-0.
 
In the Box Score
Heron's goalie Alexandra DeVito set a career-high in saves with 21 in the match. Her previous high of 10 came against Ithaca earlier this month on Oct. 5. DeVito's 21 saves marks the second-most saves in a single game in William Smith program history.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will now turn their attention to the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. Messiah locked up the top seed in the Tournament thanks to a perfect 7-0 conference record this year. The Falcons will host the fourth-seeded Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Wednesday night on Anderson Field at 7:00 p.m. in the conference semifinals.