ERIE, Pa. – On Sunday afternoon, the eighth-ranked Messiah University women's soccer team used a lockdown defensive effort and late second-half goal from
Mia Libby to defeat the Cardinals of Otterbein University, 1-0. The Falcons controlled play in the first half, out shooting the Cardinals, seven to zero, but could not find the back of the net. The Falcons continued to control play in the second half, but a pair of saves from the Cardinals' goalkeeper kept the score tied. The Falcons broke through in the 71st minute, with a goal from
Mia Libby on an excellent pass from
Brittany Laird to give the Falcons the 1-0 lead. The lone goal was all the Falcons needed, and the Falcons earned the 1-0 win.
Up next, the Falcons travel to Baltimore, Md. to take on the fifth-ranked Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 7:00 p.m.
First Half
The Falcons offense got an early scoring opportunity with a corner kick in the fifth minute. The corner was sent into the middle of the box and
Ella Lent-Koop got a head on it, but the shot rolled just wide of the goal and the game remained scoreless. The Falcons kept the pressure on the Cardinals with a shot on goal from
Addi Martin in the 25th minute, but the Otterbein goalkeeper made the save and kept the game scoreless. The Falcons defense shut down the Cardinals' offense throughout the first half, allowing zero shots to keep the game scoreless at the break.
Second Half
The Falcons started the second half strong, with a shot on goal from
Hannah Adair, but the Cardinals' goalkeeper made the save and kept the game scoreless in the 56th minute. The Falcons earned another scoring opportunity in the 68th minute with a shot from
Tahlia Lloyd, but the Otterbein goalkeeper made another save to keep the score tied at 0. The Falcons continued the pressure in the 71st minute. After
Claire Vollmer got the ball past midfield to
Nikki Davis, Davis found an open
Brittany Laird in the middle of the field. Laird took a dribble and sent a long through ball into the box to
Mia Libby. Libby then took a dribble and drilled the shot into the bottom-right corner to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead. The Falcons looked to extend their lead with two shots on goal from
Nikki Davis, but each shot was saved by the Cardinals' goalkeeper and Falcons earned the 1-0 win.
Stats
Mia Libby scored the lone goal for the Falcons and her second of the season.
Brittany Laird tallied the assist for her second assist of the season. The Falcons tallied 14 shots with six shots on goal The Falcons defense shut down the Cardinals' offense, allowing only one shot and no shots on goal. The Falcosn earned four corner kicks to the Cardinal's zero.
Ava Wert earned the win in goal for the Falcons.
Next
The Falcons travel to Baltimore, Md. to take on the fifth-ranked Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 7:00 p.m.
