HUNTINGTON, Pa. – The No. 2 Messiah field hockey team found two goals in the second-half to vault the Falcons to a 2-0 victory over the Juniata Eagles on the road Wednesday evening. Kezia Loht broke the scoreless tie just over five minutes into the second-half to give Messiah a 1-0 lead. Taylor Wiederrecht connected on an untimed penalty corner at the end of regulation to give Messiah the 2-0 victory.
 
The Falcons held Juniata without a shot in Wednesday's match, while taking 10 of their own. Juniata did earn a pair of penalty corners in the first-half, but Messiah gained a total of 11 corners in the match.
 
The victory improves Messiah to 4-0 on the season and they will next take the field on Saturday night when they host No. 3 The College of New Jersey at 1:00 p.m. on Anderson Field.
 
Scoreless Start
The Falcons and Eagles played a scoreless opening period to start play on Wednesday night. Despite 35 scoreless minutes, both teams had their chances in the first-half. Messiah collected four penalty corners and registered five shots in the period, but four saves from the Eagles goalie kept the Falcons off the board.
 
While Juniata did not record any shots in Wednesday's contest, they did earn a pair of penalty corners in the first-half. They had their first opportunity just over 12 minutes into the match when Sarah Alexander inserted a corner. Messiah successfully cleared the attempt, but Juniata earned another corner 26:11 into the match.
 
Messiah once again cleared the dangerous opportunity away. Kris Levesque put a shot on target following a penalty corner just a minute before halftime, but it was turned away by Juniata's goalie Kylie Edwards and the game moved to the half scoreless.
 
Big Moments
Messiah started the second-half on the attack, earning a penalty corner just over three minutes into the period. Kaylor Rosenberry put a shot on goal off of the corner, but a save kept Messiah from denting the scoreboard. The tally would come for the Falcons just two minutes later when Kezia Loht scored her first goal of the season off a penalty corner five and a half minutes into the half.
 
The pressure continued for Messiah with the Falcons earning three more corners in the next 15 minutes. Despite the pressure the advantage remained 1-0 for the Falcons until the final moments of the contest. As time expired the Falcons earned their 11th, and final, penalty corner of the day. The Falcons took advantage of the untimed corner and scored their second goal of the match with Taylor Wiederrecht notching her second tally of the season.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons move to 4-0 on the season and will face their toughest test of the young season when they host the No. 3 TCNJ Lions on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The meeting is a rematch of last year's National Semifinal, when Messiah earned a 1-0 victory thanks to a Kristin Donohue second-half goal.