READING, Pa. – The No. 21 Messiah Field Hockey team concluded the regular season on Saturday night with a 5-0 win over Albright College. The Falcons took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter with goals from
Ellie Lefever and
Kenzie Feeney finding the back of the cage. Messiah was unable to add to their lead in the second quarter but tallied a pair of late goals from
Ellie Lefever and
Taylor Wielechowski to extend the lead to 4-0.
Aubrey Clark added a goal in the 50
th minute to give Messiah the 5-0 win.
Ellie Lefever led the Falcons with two goals with
Aubrey Clark added a goal and an assist.
Taylor Wielechowski and
Kenzie Feeney each notched a goal with
Chelsea Carlisle tallying two assists.
Anna Haberle tallied two saves in goal for the Falcons. Messiah outshot the Lions 25-2 and held a 15-2 advantage in penalty corners.
With the win, the Falcons secure a three-way tie for the top seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament with York College and Stevenson University, with the tie-break setting Messiah in the three seed. Messiah will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 4, when they travel to Stevenson University to face the second-seeded Mustangs.
First Half
Messiah dominated the offense early, scoring an early goal when
Chelsea Carlisle found
Ellie Lefever to give Messiah the 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game. Just over a minute later, Carlisle fired a shot on goal, but the Lions goalie was able to make the save.
Aubrey Clark and
Addie Weiler looked to extend the Messiah lead, but Clark missed just wide before Weiler had her shot blocked by an Albright defender. The Lions earned the first penalty corner of the game and fired a shot on goal, but
Anna Haberle was able to make the save in goal. After a shot from
Caitlyn Weatherill was saved by the Lions goalie,
Kenzie Feeney returned the ricochet into the back of the cage to give Messiah the 2-0 lead.
The Falcons returned to their offensive dominance in the second quarter, earning five penalty corners in the first five minutes of the second quarter.
Ellie Lefever and
Aubrey Clark placed shots on goal before Lefever had a shot blocked by a Lions defender. Lefever missed a pair of shots just wide as the Falcons lead remained at 2-0. In the final minutes of the first half,
Kenzie Feeney missed a shot just wide before a shot from the Lions was saved by
Anna Haberle in goal. A late Lions penalty corner threatened to put Albright on the board, but the Falcons defense was able to prevent a shot to maintain the 2-0 lead into the break.
Second Half
Early in the second half,
Aubrey Clark has a shot blocked before the Falcons earned their first penalty corner. The Falcons were unable to register a shot but just a minute later,
Taylor Wielechowski stepped up for a penalty stroke opportunity. Her shot missed just wide and the score remained 2-0 in favor of Messiah. The Falcons earned three penalty corners over the next two minutes, with
Ellie Lefever and
Taylor Wielechowski finding the back of the cage with assists from
Chelsea Carlisle and
Aubrey Clark, respectively.
Caitlyn Weatherill had a pair of shots on goal saved before
Olivia Zaskoda had a shot saved and the score remained 4-0 in favor of the Falcons with one quarter remaining.
The teams played back-and-forth to open the final quarter before
Aubrey Clark found the back of the cage in the 50
th minute to extend the lead to 5-0. The Falcons tallied five penalty corners in the final eight minutes of play.
Hannah Buys missed a shot just wide before
Kenzie Feeney had a shot saved by the Lions goalie.
Jillian Neiderer looked to score a late goal but her shot hit the post and the score remained 5-0 as time expired.
Stats
Ellie Lefever led the Falcons with two goals with
Aubrey Clark added a goal and an assist.
Taylor Wielechowski and Kenzie Fenney each notched a goal with
Chelsea Carlisle tallying two assists.
Anna Haberle tallied two saves in goal for the Falcons. Messiah outshot the Lions 25-2 and held a 15-2 advantage in penalty corners.
Up Next
With the win, the Falcons secure a three-way tie for the top seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament with York College and Stevenson University, with the tie-break setting Messiah in the three seed. Messiah will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 4, when they travel to Stevenson University to face the second-seeded Mustangs.
