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Barton Honored As First Team All-American, Mowery Second Team
Sophomore Julie Barton was a First Team NFHCA All-American, while junior Ashley Mowery, junior Brittany Godshall, sophomore Kourtney Ehly, senior Nikki Bailey, junior Elizabeth Ziegler and senior Beth Sandowich all earned post-season honors as well.

Grantham, PA — Following a season that finished with the 12th Final Four appearance in the storied history of Messiah field hockey, the program was showered with national- and regional-level honors, the school announced Tuesday.

Sophomore Julie Barton was named a First Team Longstreth/NFHCA Division III All-American while junior Ashley Mowery earned Second Team honors, helping lead both the Falcons’ offense and defense to a memorable 17-2 overall record.

Barton and Mowery were also First Team All-American selections for the privately-operated womensfieldhockey.com organization, while junior Brittany Godshall was honored with Third Team All-American status. Sophomore Kourtney Ehly was named to the womensfieldhockey.com All-Rookie Squad.

Regionally, both Barton and Mowery were First Team Longstreth/NFHCA South Atlantic Region selections, while senior Nikki Bailey and juniors Emily Sauder and Elizabeth Ziegler were Second Team choices. Bailey was selected as a member of the 2008 NFHCA Division III Senior All-Star Game, while Barton and Ziegler were named to the 2008 NCAA Championships All-Tournament team at last weekend’s Final Four.

For all of Messiah’s award winners, it was a season highlighted by tremendous team success. Ranked as the nation’s top NCAA Division III team in the final STX/NFHCA Top 20 Poll, the Falcons defeated 10 teams ranked in that ballot’s top 20 over the course of the season. The year ended in a disheartening 5-2 loss to Tufts University in the national semi-final, leaving the program just one win away from its seventh NCAA Division III Championship game appearance.

A transfer from the University of Louisville, Barton became Messiah’s 21st NFHCA First Team All-American in program history, anchoring the midfield while scoring 10 goals and dishing out a team-leading 12 assists. Five of her scores were game-winners, three of which came against ranked opponents: Barton scored the deciding goals against fourth-ranked Ursinus College and twice against Lebanon Valley College — ranked eighth and seventh in those respective games.

Mowery, meanwhile, complemented a First Team NFHCA All-American honor with this year’s Second Team status, again anchoring a solid backfield between the pipes. The goalkeeper finished the year with 89 saves and just 20 goals allowed (a 1.21 goals-per-game average), being a major factor in eight shutouts.

The same could be said for Godshall, as the defender led all field players with nine defensive saves. Sandowich completed a brilliant career as the Falcons’ center back, while Bailey (19 goals, four assists), Ehly (12 goals, five assists), Ziegler (seven goals, five assists) and Sauder (two goals, five assists) were all major cogs in the team’s potent offense. Messiah scored 93 goals while giving up just 21, recording a total 478 shots to opponents’ 155.