SALISBURY, Md. – The No. 12 Salisbury Sea Gulls defeated the No. 8 Messiah field hockey team on Saturday afternoon by a 3-2 final score. The match stood scoreless for the first 44 minutes, but Salisbury got on the board in the final minute of the third quarter. Messiah quickly countered with the equalizer early in the fourth, but two goals in a two-minute span from Allie Davis completed her hat trick and gave Salisbury a 3-1 lead. Leah Bryner connected in the final seconds of play, but it was not enough as the Falcons move to 2-2 on the young season.
 
In addition to Bryner's tally, Mallory Kline scored for the Falcons on a penalty corner early in the fourth quarter.
 
Messiah will be back in action on Wednesday when they take on the Gettysburg Bullets at 4:00 p.m. in Gettysburg.
 
Scoreless Opening Half
The Falcons were under heavy pressure from the Sea Gulls for the entirety of the opening half. Salisbury registered 10 shots across the first 30 minutes of play, putting five attempts on frame. Catie Brubaker made five saves for the Falcons in the first half with four coming in the second period alone.
 
Messiah was unable to earn a penalty corner in the first 30 minutes, while Salisbury took 10 corners.
 
Despite the heavy and consistent pressure, Messiah's defense stood tall and the match remained scoreless at the break.
 
More Even Third Quarter
The Falcons began to get some traction in the third quarter, collecting their first three shots and earning a pair of penalty corners. Five minutes after the half, Messiah earned a penalty corner, but an attempt from Kelsey Heltzel went wide. Three minutes later, the Falcons earned another penalty corner and put back-to-back shots on frame from Jenna Lutz. Both of Lutz's attempts were saved and the game remained scoreless.
 
In the final minute of the period, Salisbury began pressuring the Falcons once again. The Sea Gulls earned three-straight penalty corners. On the first two, Catie Brubaker made saves, but on the third, Salisbury finally got on the board with Allie Davis finding McKenzie Mitchell for the score with just 21 seconds remaining in the period.
 
Leveling the Match
Early in the fourth quarter Messiah found their equalizer off a penalty corner. Ashlyn Smith fed Kelsey Heltzel on the right side. Heltzel sent one into the mixer and it found the stick of Mallory Kline in front of the goal mouth. Kline redirected the feed into the cage for the equalizer at 1-1.
 
Salisbury Responds
Less than a minute later the Sea Gulls responded with a goal off a penalty corner to take the lead back at 2-1. On a stick stop swing, Allie Davis scored her second of the afternoon.
 
Allie Davis completed her hat trick with a third tally 90 seconds after her second to bump the Sea Gulls' lead to 3-1 with under 12 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
Messiah attempted to close the gap with four shots and a pair of penalty corners in the final stretch. Leah Bryner connected on a penalty corner goal in the final seconds, but it was not enough as the Falcons fell by a 3-2 final.
 
What's Up Next
With the setback, Messiah moves to 2-2 on the season. The Falcons will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Gettysburg to take on the Bullets at 4:00 p.m.