GRANTHAM, Pa. - Just nine seconds into the 2019 Season, the Messiah field hockey team was on the board. Taylor Wiederrecht and the No. 4 Falcons wasted little time lighting up the scoreboard on a beautiful Friday night against the No. 16 Christopher Newport Captains. The opening tally was the first of many for the Falcons as Messiah poured on five goals in the Top-20 showdown.
 
Wiederrecht added one more tally in the third period and one in the fourth while freshmen Nicole Shank and Abby Boyer each netted the first goals of their career in the victory.
 
Despite the lopsided final score, Christopher Newport outshot the Falcons 12-11 in the game.
 
Very Fast Start
The Falcons wasted next to no time to get on top against the No. 16 Captains. Just nine seconds into the game, Taylor Wiederrecht fired a shot passed the keeper to give Messiah the 1-0 lead. Just 20 seconds later, Megan Bomba swatted a shot from CNU to keep the Falcons' lead. Messiah maintained control throughout the rest of the period, taking two more shots before the end of the 15 minutes.

Messiah kept the scoring going just six minutes into the second period after freshman Nicole Shank tallied her first career goal in her collegiate debut to give Messiah a 2-0 lead. Shank's goal came from a penalty stroke after a bit of collision inside the circle. Christopher Newport responded with 23:34 on the clock, ripping a shot on frame but Megan Bomba came up with another big save. With back-to-back corners, Christopher Newport was able to find the back of the cage to cut the Falcons' lead in half at 2-1. 

Extending The Lead
Just 24 seconds into the third period, Abby Boyer sent a shot in that went just wide of the cage. The Falcons earned a penalty corner soon after and kept the pressure on as Sammi Pletcher's shot was blocked with 33:01 on the clock. Abby Boyer came through four minutes and 17 seconds later to tally her first career goal and give Messiah the 3-1 lead. After a bit of back and forth play, Taylor Wiederrecht took a pass from Hannah Palm and sent it to the back of the cage for her second goal of the night, pushing Messiah to a 4-1 lead with 42:12 on the clock. 

It's Tricky
One minute and nine seconds into the fourth period, Taylor Wiederrecht sent a shot on frame but the Captains' Olivia Davis was there to make the save. Another two minutes and 10 seconds was all Wiederrecht needed to put the finishing touches on her first career hat trick, giving the Falcons a convincing 5-1 lead. 

Late Pressure
Despite being down by four goals, Christopher Newport wasn't out of the fight. The Captains spent the last seven minutes of regulation battling in Messiah's defensive end with a total of four corners and five shots. The relentless effort wasn't enough to cut into the Falcons' 5-1 lead as the game clock expired, giving Messiah the victory on opening night of the 2019 season.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will spend the next week on the road as they travel to No. 19 Ursinus College on Sept. 4 at 7:00 p.m. and No. 7 Salisbury University on Sept. 7 at 1:00 p.m.