WASHINGTON, D.C. - The No. 8 Messiah field hockey team earned a 2-0 triumph over the Catholic Cardinals on Wednesday night. The Falcons connected for a score from Ashlyn Smith late in the second quarter to take the lead and then added an insurance goal midway through the fourth quarter from Nicole Shank to seal the victory.
 
Catie Brubaker was stellar in cage, making saves on all seven of the shots she faced in the match. The junior goalkeeper earned her 12th victory of the season, dropping her goals-against-average mark to a mere 1.01.
 
The opening period of play was scoreless between the two sides. The Falcons outshot the Cardinals, 5-3, earning a penalty corner opportunity nine minutes into the quarter. The Catholic defense prevailed, highlighted by a defensive save from Gracie Burford. Burford's defensive effort denied Smith a goal and a Falcons' lead, but Smith would ultimately break the deadlock in the second quarter.
 
With only 3:38 remaining in the first half, Smith recorded her eighth goal of the season to give Messiah a 1-0 edge. Smith's shot was fired at the top of shooting circle, finding the bottom left corner of the cage. The Cardinals outshot Messiah in the second quarter, 2-1, but the Falcons capitalized on their one chance on target. Heading into halftime, Messiah led the hosts, 1-0.
 
Brubaker recorded four saves in the first half of play, making two saves in each of the two quarters to keep Catholic scoreless.
 
The Cardinals applied firm offensive pressure in the opening nine minutes of the second quarter, earning a penalty corner with 6:37 remaining in the period and firing off consecutive as a result of the opportunity. The Falcons had just one shot in the third quarter, an effort from Smith that went wide at the 4:47 mark. Catholic, in the final 14 seconds of the period, had a series of great scoring chances, but the Falcons' defense won the battle. The Cardinals earned a total of three penalty corners, resulting in three shots, as two of the shots were blocked and Brubaker saved the third shot. The Falcons' defense held firm against the late-quarter pressure, holding on to a slim one-goal advantage (1-0) heading into the final period of play.
 
Catholic continued its offensive pressure on the Messiah defense in the middle portion of the fourth quarter. The Cardinals were able to fire off two shots at the 10:06 and 9:34 marks of the period, but the shots were blocked and saved, respectively. Brubaker made her seventh save of the game at that same 9:34 mark, denying Catholic's Carly Bateman of the equalizing goal. The hosts were on the front foot, but Messiah was able to scratch across an insurance goal with only 6:02 remaining in the contest. Shank notched her third goal of the season on a penalty corner opportunity, rounding the goalkeeper and firing the ball into the far right corner of the cage to double the Falcons' lead (2-0). The Cardinals mustered two more penalty corner opportunities in the final five minutes of action, but Messiah ultimately prevailed, clinching the non-conference clash by a final score of 2-0.
 
Shank, providing the much-needed insurance goal to seal the win, has now scored in consecutive contests. Smith tallied her 20th point of the season, ranked third overall on the team.
 
The victory moves Messiah's overall record to 12-2 (6-0 MAC Commonwealth) on the season.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah travels to Widener University to take on the Pride on Saturday, Oct. 23, at 2:00 p.m.