SALEM, Va. – For the second-straight season, the Messiah women's soccer team saw their season come to a close in the National Semifinal. On Thursday night, the Falcons battled with the No. 2 Washington University in St. Louis Bears in Salem, Va., playing to a 1-1 draw. With the match level after 110 minutes, penalty kicks decided the match with the Bears earning a 4-2 edge in penalties to advance to Saturday's National Championship Match.
The Bears will face the California Lutheran University Regals in the National Championship at noon on Saturday. The Regals also advanced via penalty kicks earlier on Thursday afternoon.
Messiah sees the 2023 season come to a close with an overall record of 21-2-1. After falling behind on an unlucky touch in the 16th minute, Messiah rallied with an impressive strike from
Kristina Akselsen late in the first half. Akselsen's tally leveled the match and capped off the offense for both teams until penalty kicks decided a winner.
The Falcons and Bears have played five times in their history. Messiah holds a 1-1-3 record against WashU with four of their five meetings decided by penalty kicks, including three in the Final Four or National Championship Match.
Bears Break Through
Messiah had the better run of play through the game's opening minutes, attempting the first four shots of the contest across the first 14 minutes.
Mia Libby started things off with an attempt on target in the second minute that was saved. Off-target shots followed from
Hannah Adair and
Julia Martin, but Messiah was on the front foot to begin the match. After an attempt from
Kaitlyn Laird was saved in the 14th minute, WashU pushed the other way.
A forward pass from the midfield was unable to be headed away by the Falcons and WashU collected possession at the top of the box by Meryl McKenna. After a controlling touch helped McKenna elude the initial defender, McKenna attempted a shot toward the left post. Between the pipes, it looked like
Ava Wert was going to have the attempt covered, but the foot of a Falcon defender deflected the shot to the right side of the goal mouth. The deflection took away any chance Wert would have had for a save as the ball nestled into the back of the net for a 1-0 WashU lead just 16 minutes into the contest.
Chances were few and far between for the Falcons over the next few minutes. Messiah built play up numerous times, but were unable to find a moment to equalize. Shots from
Tahlia Lloyd in the 23rd minute and
Kierstyn Fogle in the 41st were saved and it felt like the Bears would hold a 1-0 lead as the match turned to halftime.
Akselsen Delivers
That changed when
Kristina Akselsen found some space in the 43rd minute well outside the box. Stepping forward from her midfield position, Akselsen took a touch on the left side about five yards outside the box. With no defender stepping to invade her immediate space, Akselsen decided to let fire a shot from about 20 yards out with her left foot. A perfect placed strike lofted over top of the keeper's hands and found the back of the net for the equalizer. The strike was Akselsen's eighth score of the season and gave the Falcons new life heading into the half.
Scoreless Second Half
For stretches of the second half, a go ahead goal felt like it was coming. The Falcons attempted three-straight shots between the 54th and 57th minutes, but all three were blocked or went off target. After a WashU shot that missed wide in the 63rd minute, Messiah came right back with a pair of on-target attempts in the 68th minute.
Kaitlyn Laird had her shot saved before
Hannah Adair required one of the better saves from WashU's keeper Sidney Conner. From the right side of the box, Adair too aim toward the left post. Conner dove to her right, snagging the shot and keeping the match level at 1-1.
Down the stretch of regulation, it was the Bears with the high quality run of play. WashU attempted seven shots in the final 10 minutes, requiring a pair of saves from
Ava Wert. Despite the heavy pressure late, Messiah's defense did not break and the match turned to overtime tied at 1-1.
Wert Helps Force Penalties
Each team attempted just one off-target shot in the first overtime period, but in the second 10-minute period things got a little dicey. In the 108th minute
Ava Wert was called on to make a save on a shot right at her, but Wert was really tested in the final 30 seconds of overtime with a rip to the left post Grace Ehlert. Wert read the strike perfectly, extending to her right to knock the shot wide of the post and force a corner kick. Nothing materialized from the corner and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Penalty Kick Sadness
Despite the match officially going down in the record books as a draw, an advancing team was needed and as a result penalty kicks were required. The Falcons and Bears are no strangers to penalty kicks against each other. In four previous meetings, the two foes had ended their match with penalty kicks to establish an advancing team, including last year's Elite Eight game on a brutally cold Pittsburgh night. In 2022, Messiah came away with a victory, but on Thursday it would be the Bears celebrating a trip to the National Championship Match on Saturday.
With the Bears attempting first, WashU took a 1-0 lead after the opening round of kicks. In the second round,
Ava Wert made a save and
Julia Martin converted her kick to level the shootout at 1-1 through two rounds. However, another WashU make in the third round followed by a Messiah shot that was saved put the Bears in the driver's seat with two rounds remaining.
WashU's Anna Viscovich made her kick to give the Bears a 3-1 lead.
Kaitlyn Laird stepped to the spot needing a make her kick to extend the shootout and the Falcons' season. Laird did just that, deftly slotting her shot into the back of the net.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, Laird's score would be their last attempt of the night. The Bears' Ally Hackett stepped up with Messiah needing a save or a miss to extend the shootout. Hackett smacked her shot into the upper 90 on the right side for the winner, sending WashU to the National Championship Match against California Lutheran with a 4-2 win in the shootout.
Capping Off the Season
The Falcons end the 2023 season with an overall record of 21-2-1, winning 17-straight matches from Sept. 20 until Thursday's draw against WashU. Messiah claimed their 20th Conference Championship and advanced to the Final Four for the 15th time in program history all after graduating nine seniors from a year ago.
