GRANTHAM, Pa. – In a rematch of last year's National Semifinal, No. 2 Messiah field hockey defeated the No. 3 TCNJ Lions 4-2 on Anderson Field on Saturday afternoon. Hannah Palm scored the first two goals of the game to give Messiah a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes left to play.
 
The Messiah lead grew to 4-0 following the first, and second career goals for freshman Jennie Young. The Lions did not go down without a fight, scoring two goals less than a minute apart to cut the lead to 4-2.
 
The late burst from TCNJ was not enough as the Falcons held on for the 4-2 victory in the heavyweight showdown.

Building a Lead
The Falcons have had a knack for striking early in contests this season and Saturday afternoon was no different. Just 5:05 into the contest, Messiah earned their second penalty corner of the match and quickly took advantage of the opportunity. The insertion trickled to Casie Stief on the near side. Stief found Megan Wetzel at the top of the circle and the senior sent a dangerous ball against the grain of the defense to the sick of Hannah Palm directly in front of the cage. A redirection by Palm was all the Falcons needed to take a 1-0 in the opening minutes of the contest.

Despite stretches of heavy pressure from both sides during the remaining half hour in the opening half, the score remained 1-0 into the second-half.

TCNJ applied consistent pressure for the first seven minutes of the second-half that resulted in three penalty corners and three shots, but two attempts were blocked and one went wide.

After weathering the storm in the opening minutes of the half, it was Messiah's turn to put together some dangerous moments. In the 50th minute of play, Messiah earned another penalty corner. Once again, it was Wetzel standing up top and slotting a ball into the circle that found the stick of Palm. For the second time in the game, Palm found the back of the cage to build the Messiah lead to 2-0.

Just three minutes later, Messiah earned a penalty stroke, but TCNJ's goalie Maddie Beaumont, made a save to her left to keep the game at 2-0.

After two goals from Palm, Jennie Young got in on the scoring action with a pair of goals in a four-minute span. The freshman registered her first career tally off a rebound from a Kezia Loht shot. Loht carried the ball down the middle of the field and ripped a shot to the far post that was saved by the goalie. Young was waiting for the deflection on the back post and flicked in the back-handed shot for the 3-0 lead.

Young's second goal of the afternoon felt much like the first. She waited on the back post and grabbed the deflection off a centering pass from Wetzel and her diving effort found the cage for the 4-0 Messiah lead.

Lions' Late Effort
With under five minutes remaining, the Lions scored a pair of goals to cut the Messiah lead in half. Three minutes after Young's second tally, Caroline Quinn connected to put the Lions on the board for the first time in the match. Just 55 seconds later, the Lions found their second goal of the afternoon, this time striking off a penalty corner off the stick of Kayla Peterson.

Messiah hung tough and fought through the final few minutes of the match to earn their second multi-goal victory over a top-5 team this season (Sept. 8 vs. Salisbury, 2-0 win).

In the Box Score
Messiah outshot the Lions on the afternoon with 14 shots against eight attempts from TCNJ. The Falcons pressured the Lions with seven attempts on frame, while the only two shots that TCNJ put on frame were the two goals.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will remain at home and host the Catholic Cardinals on Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m. on Anderson Field. Messiah is 2-3 against Catholic all-time and earned a 4-0 victory last season on Sept. 20, 2017.