GRANTHAM, Pa. - Prior to Wednesday's match, the Messiah women's soccer team has faced the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen seven-straight times in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals. In all seven meetings dating back to the 2012 season, the match has resulted in a Messiah shutout victory, advancing the Falcons to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Match. The 2018 edition of the Messiah vs. Lebanon Valley Conference Semifinal match was much the same with the Falcons earning their 19th-straight trip to the Conference Championship match with a 3-0 victory over the Dutchmen.
The Falcons used three goals in the first seven-and-a-half minutes to take an early lead that would propel them into the Conference Championship Match.
For the fourth time in as many years, Messiah will square-off with the Arcadia Knights with the Conference Title hanging in the balance. Messiah defeated the Knights in 2015 and 2016, but Arcadia clipped the Falcons last season with a 1-0 victory in overtime.
The time of Saturday's Championship Match will be determined following the result of the men's soccer semifinals tomorrow night, but the location will be Shoemaker Field thanks to the Falcons holding the top-seed in the tournament.
Starting Off with a Bang
The Falcons wasted no time getting on the board, scoring exactly a minute into the game off the head of
Brooke Firestone. The goal was set-up with a nearly perfect cross sent in by
Sarah Strachan from deep in the right corner. Strachan's cross connected with Firestone right at the six and the junior forward steered the cross into the right-side netting before the Lebanon Valley keeper had a chance to move.
The goal was the 16th of the season for Firestone and marked the eighth-fastest goal Messiah has scored to begin a game since data became available at the start of the 2003 season.
Less than four-and-a-half minutes later, Strachan and Firestone were at it again. This time around Strachan played the ball ahead to Firestone from much further outside the box. While Strachan's feed was still from the right-side, she was more toward midfield and her delivery bounced once in the box before Firestone could run onto it. Firestone timed her head off the bounced and sent it right over the keeper's hands for the 2-0 Messiah lead in the sixth minute.
The Falcons capped off their scoring with a tally from
Julia Kyne in the eighth minute off a corner kick from
Maddie Kohl. Already leading 2-0 in the eighth minute, Kohl sent in a low delivery from the left corner that found the foot of Kyne in the middle of the six. Kyne quickly sent a shot in for her seventh score of the season and a 3-0 Messiah advantage.
After scoring on three of their first four shots, Messiah had plenty of more opportunities to increase their lead throughout the remainder of the match, but the Dutchmen kept the Falcons out of the goal for the remaining 82:30 of the match. The Falcons outshot Lebanon Valley 20-2 in the match, putting 11 of their 20 attempts on goal while allowing just one shot on goal for Lebanon Valley en route to the 3-0 victory.
What's Up Next
The Falcons now have two days to prepare for the Arcadia Knights, whom they will meet in the MAC Commonwealth Championship Match on Saturday evening. The match is slated to be played on Shoemaker Field with the timing of the contest dependent on the result of theMessiah men's soccer semifinal on Thursday. Should the men's soccer team advance to their Championship Match as well, the women would play Arcadia at 5:00 p.m. and the men would follow directly after at 7:30p.m.
Messiah and Arcadia played on Oct. 24 and the two sides battled to a 0-0 draw in Glenside. While the Falcons had the 24-10 advantage in shots, both teams had quality oprotunities to find goals.
The Falcons will be looking to take the MAC Commonwealth Championship back from Arcadia and claim their 16th conference title in program history. All 15 of their previous titles have come since the year 2000.
