CHESTER, Pa. – The No. 2 Messiah field hockey team opened the 2018 MAC Commonwealth slate on Saturday afternoon with a meeting against the Widener Pride on the road. Messiah scored twice in each half en route to a 4-1 victory over the Pride to win their seventh-straight game to start the season.

Megan Wetzel connected on a penalty corner to get the scoring started off a pass from Casie Stief just 8:04 into the match to give Messiah a 1-0 lead. Jennie Young doubled the Messiah lead with her third goal of the season with less than 10 minutes remaining in the opening half.

After the Pride immediately followed Loht's goal with a tally of their own, Messiah held a 2-1 advantage into the half. After the break, the Falcons found a quick goal off the stick of Taylor Wiederrecht before Kezia Loht closed out the scoring with the final goal of the match with 12 minutes remaining.

With the 4-1 victory, Messiah improves to 7-0 on the season and the Falcons will next take the field on Wednesday when they travel to Lancaster to take on Franklin & Marshall at 7:00 p.m.

Another Fast Start
Once again, the Falcons jumped out to a quick start with a goal in the first 10 minutes of the contest. Messiah earned their first corner of the game just eight minutes in and took advantage of the opportunity. Just as she did twice on Wednesday, Megan Wetzel ripped a shot from the top of the circle into the back of the cage. Casie Stief inserted the corner to Wetzel for her second assist of the season.

After Wetzel's early goal on Saturday, Messiah has scored a goal in the first 10 minutes of the match on four different occasions this season. The fast starts have allowed Messiah to not trail in a match yet this year.

Trading Goals
Less than 20 minutes after Wetzel got the Falcons on the board, Jennie Young collected her own rebound off a penalty corner and put through her shot in the 26th minute to boost the Falcons' lead to two at 2-0. The tally was the third goal of the season for Young and came after a five-minute stretch of Messiah taking six shots and earning three penalty corners.

Messiah's 2-0 lead was quickly cut in half. Just over two minutes after Young's goal, Widener's Madi Radnoff connected after a rebound to to make it a 2-1 game heading into the half.

Radnoff's goal was the first that the Falcons have allowed in the first-half this season.

Closing Time
Following the break, Messiah scored just over three and a half minutes into the second period thanks to a tally from Taylor Wiederrecht. The Flacons applied heavy pressure to open the half with four corners and shots. On the fourth corner of the sequence, Casie Stief sent a lofted ball to Wiederrecht, who hit it out of the air and into the back of the cage.

The Falcons continued to pressure throughout the half and found their fourth goal of the afternoon with 12 minutes left to play off a shot from Kezia Loht. The score from the senior forward is the second of the year for the senior.

What's Up Next
Messiah will face the No. 11 Franklin & Marshall Diplomats in their next contest on Wednesday evening in Lancaster. Match is slated for 7:00 p.m. The match is always a hotly contested meeting of two regional powers. Messiah owns a 22-7-4 record in the all-time series and claimed last year's game 3-1 on Anderson Field.