DALLAS, Pa. - The No. 1 Messiah women's soccer team claimed a 3-1 victory over the Misericordia Cougars on Saturday night. Ellie Lengacher scored in the ninth minute to get the Falcons on the board and Brooke Firestone netted a pair of goals to lead Messiah to the 3-1 victory.

Firestone netted a goal in each half with a tally in the 21st minute and another in 59th minute.

Messiah outshot the Cougars 21-5 in the match, putting 14 shots on frame against just three shots on goal for Misericordia. The Falcons earned the only two corner kicks in the game.

With the victory, Messiah improves to 8-1-0 on the season and will be back in action on Wednesday when they host the Dickinson Red Devils at 7:00 p.m.

Lengacher Tallies Early for Messiah
Messiah jumped out to an early lead thanks to Ellie Lengacher connecting in the ninth minute. The tally came on just the second shot of the evening for the Falcons. Sunny Gelnovatch had the first shot for Messiah in the seventh minute, putting it on frame. Gelnovatch's attempt was turned away by Misercordia's Alexis Benedetto in goal for the first of 11 saves for the junior keeper.

Just two minutes after the Falcons' first shot, Maddie Kohl found Ellie Lengacher for the senior's third goal of the season and second in as many games. With the tally on Saturday, Lengacher has scored two goals and added two assists in the last three matches.

The goal in the ninth minute gave Messiah a 1-0 lead that would hold for the next 10 minutes.

Firestone Nets One in Each Half
With Messiah leading 1-0, Brooke Firestone connected for a pair of goals, scoring one in each half. Firestone finished unassisted tallies in the 21st and 59th minutes for her seventh and eighth goals of th season, leading the Falcons' offense.

When Firestone scores this season, she does it in bunches. Despite playing in only seven games this year, Firestone has four games with two tallies each. Her four braces have come against Stevens, Penn State - Berks, Denison, and now Misericordia.

Messiah Controls Possession
With Messiah leading 3-0 the Cougars scored their lone goal of the evening in the 72nd minute to pull within two at 3-1. That was as close as Misericordia would get as Messiah controlled possession for a majority of the evening, firing 21 total shots on the night, putting 14 on frame. The Cougars mustered just five shots on the night, putting three on frame.

Between the pipes, Lydia Ewing made a pair of saves for the Falcons.

By controlling possession, Messiah was able to earn the 3-1 victory to move to 8-1-0 overall on the season.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will next me in action when they host the Dickinson Red Devils on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. on Shoemaker Field. Messiah holds an all-time 22-0-0 record against the Red Devils.