GRANTHAM, Pa. - The No. 2 Messiah field hockey team weathered a late storm by the Stevenson Mustangs on Anderson Field to earn a 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon to improve to 9-0 on the season. Kezia Loht stuck twice to give Messiah a 2-0 lead before the Mustangs cut the advantage in half at 2-1 with a goal in the 67th minute.
 
Kris Levesque tallied her first career goal to bump the Falcons' lead back to two with less than a minute and a half remaining, but the match was far from over. Stevenson's Brooke Morris found the cage with just 14 seconds remaining to once again cut the Messiah lead to one at 3-2. Messiah hung tough for the final few seconds and held on for the victory.
 
Messiah improves to 9-0 on the season and moves their MAC Commonwealth record to 2-0 and will next take on Gettysburg College in a non-conference match on Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
 
Plenty of Opportunities
The Falcons took control of the contest right from the start with six penalty corners and five shots in the first 16 minutes of play. The Falcons sent two shots on goal in the opening stretch, but Stevenson's Jordan Hersberger collected a pair of defensive saves to help keep the match scoreless.
 
Megan Wetzel led the way for the Falcons in the early going with three shots, but two of her attempts were turned away by Hersberger.
 
Taking the Lead
Just under 23 minutes into the match, the pressure finally paid off for the Falcons with Kezia Loht connecting on her third goal of the season. Off a penalty corner, the Falcons found the back of the cage with some precision passing. From the right-side of the top of the circle, Kaylor Rosenberry sent a pass to the near post. Kristen Musser one-touched the pass to Kezia Loht on the left post and the senior forward tapped in the goal to give Messiah a 1-0 lead.
 
Despite three Stevenson penalty corners in the final five minutes of the half, Messiah took their 1-0 advantage into halftime.
 
Wild Ending
The Messiah lead would hold at 1-0 well into the second-half until Loht struck again. Like their first goal, the Falcons used two quick passes to double the lead. Loht finished off a pass from Emily Knepp to give Messiah a 2-0 lead with less than nine minutes remaining.
 
With a 2-0 lead with less than five minutes remaining, it looked that Messiah would cruise to a victory, but Stevenson would quickly cut the lead back to one at 2-1 after the Mustangs' leading scorer, Sara McVey tallied on the third of three-straight penalty corners with four minutes remaining.
 
Stevenson had an opportunity to even the match with just over two minutes left on the clock, but a shot off a penalty corner was blocked by the Messiah defense. Exactly a minute after the Falcons' defensive stand, Kris Levesque worked her way through the Stevenson defense and beat the goalie from the left-side for her first career goal. Levesque's unassisted tally gave Messiah a 3-1 lead with 1:20 remaining in regulation.
 
Once again the match looked to be in hand, but the Mustangs continued to battle and found their second goal of the afternoon off the stick of Brooke Morris with just 14 seconds remaining in the game. Messiah held possession for the final few seconds and earned the hard-fought 3-2 victory.
 
What's Up Next
The win improves the Falcons to 9-0 on the season and moves Messiah to 2-0 in MAC Commonwealth play. The Falcons will next take the field on Wednesday afternoon when they travel to Gettysburg to take on the Bullets at 4:00 p.m.