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Top-Ranked Falcons Snatch Victory From Defeat In 2OT Win
Posted: 9/16/2009
Box Score | More Field Hockey news
Senior Emily Sauder scored Wednesday's game-winner against 14th-ranked Lynchburg College, but it nearly didn't have the chance to happen.

By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Springfield, VA — It's been over 20 years since Messiah College played Lynchburg College in a game of field hockey, but as Wednesday evening’s contest at Springfield High School proved, it was well worth the wait.

In a thrilling double-overtime game in Springfield, Virginia, the Falcons won 3-2 on a goal from senior midfielder Emily Sauder, capping off one of the most anticipated games of the regular season. With the win, Messiah remains undefeated for the year and perhaps affirms the pollsters’ latest opinion: Tuesday afternoon Messiah claimed the top slot in the Kookaburra/NFHCA Top 20 Poll, moving up from its previous number four rating.

Wednesday afternoon may not have provided one of the team's most dominating performances, but the Falcons walked away battle-tested, confident and a better group than then when the day began.

“It was an ugly win,” said Jan Trapp, Messiah head coach. “There's no denying that, but I give a lot of credit to our girls. We're playing without two starters (junior All-American midfielder Julie Barton and senior defender Mary Hoover), but we were still able to come away with a win.”

The 14th-ranked Hornets took this team to the limit, but Trapp's bunch stayed resilient throughout all 92 minutes and four seconds of action, walking away with one of the most hard-fought wins of the year.

All with the added pressure of being the team to beat.

“It's always tough to be ranked number one,” added Trapp. “The stakes are higher and you get a big bulls-eye on you.”

If anything is for certain though, the Falcons showed Wednesday night just why they deserve that pristine ranking.

Early in the game, the Messiah (5-0) trailed for just the second time in the 2009 season, as Lynchburg's Allie Weir scored off a dive just over eight minutes into play. That gave the Hornets a quick 1-0 lead over a Falcons bunch that had not seen a deficit since the first half of a 4-3 win over Ursinus College back on Sept. 5th.

“I don't think this panicked the girls,” said Trapp. “It kind of lit a fire under them, and we came back and were able to score two quick goals, and came so close to a third goal.”

The Hornets' lead didn't last though, as the Falcons scored twice in a span of just under three minutes to take a 2-1 lead.

First, senior midfielder Liz Ziegler took a pass from junior Jess Zimmerman, dribbled into the top of the circle, and nailed a shot at the 13:37 mark. Less than three minutes later, junior forward Kourtney Ehly scored a off a corner to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead 16:28 into the game.

From there, the game turned into a defensive battle, as neither team scored for the next 45 minutes of play.

“I thought our defense played awesome,” said Trapp. “I kept looking at the clock and hoping it would wind down real fast.”

With just under eight minutes to play in the game, the Hornets finally broke through, tying the game on a deflected shot from freshman Lindsay Leonard.

“We let them get a foot in the door, and they capitalized on it,” said Trapp. “They were go-go-go the whole time, and we were just defensive the whole time. We did some things that were uncharacteristic for our team to do.”

The Falcons – a team that won both its overtime games last season and nine of its last 10, dating back to 2005 – battled the Hornets through the first overtime, as neither team scored in the 15 minutes of action.

Freshman defender Natalie Ziegler – filling in for Hoover – and senior defender Brittany Godshall each made fantastic saves in overtime to keep the game going.

The game appeared to be over midway through the second overtime, when the Hornets were awarded a penalty stroke that rocketed into the back of the Falcons' cage.

Luckily for Messiah, the Hornets were called for an illegale approach and the game continued.

“We caught a break,” said Trapp. “We were just inches from a loss. I thought it was over (when the Hornets scored), but it was called back and we got another chance.”

And the Falcons took advantage of their new life, snatching victory from almost certain defeat.

Senior Emily Sauder – who played three different positions for the day – sent a shot into the back of the Hornets' net at the 90:24 mark, capping off a gritty performance for a Falcons' team that kept their number one ranking intact with a strong team effort against a top-ranked opponent.

Trapp praised the efforts of the Hornets and their coach, Enza Steele, saying, “the Hornets are a tough, very underrated team. They're very under-ranked and they did a great job tonight.”

Coming off two strong performances against top teams in the nation, the Falcons are halfway through a tough, four-game road series before the team returns to Anderson Field to open Commonwealth Conference play Sept. 26.

Before that, however, Messiah must travel to second-ranked Salisbury University this Saturday, the team’s fourth opponent ranked in the nation’s top 14 in the Falcons’ first six contests. Game time is set for 1 p.m.