Messiah Reflects Weather In Scoring Punch, Musser Notches First
Posted: 9/26/2009
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Senior Katlyn Musser triggered one of the all-time great Shoemaker Field celebrations Saturday, scoring her first career goal against Washington & Lee.

By Matt McDermott, GoMessiah.com student manager
Grantham, PA — It might have been a dry first half, but nothing could stop the rain from falling during the second half of Saturday’s game against Washington & Lee University.

The same could be said about the Falcons, as they poured on five second-half goals en route to a 5-0 wash out at Shoemaker Field.

The overcast skies were reminiscent of last year’s contest, where a soaked Watt Field played host to a Messiah 4-3 overtime win, coming off of two late goals from then sophomore Erin Hench.

Saturday’s contest would not need such heroics.

From the opening tap, Messiah (8-0-1) played the aggressor, controlling possession for most of the first half. But 11 first half shots only produced one shot on goal, coming at the end of the period.

This inability to create quality chances kept Washington & Lee (5-1) in the game. Making runs when they had possession, the Generals’ best attack came 22 minutes into the contest.

Off a corner kick, sophomore Corrine Smith found the ball at her feet eight yards out, surrounded by a group of Messiah defenders and Washington & Lee attackers. Smith’s ensuing shot was saved and deflected off sophomore keeper Autumn Reilly to Generals’ sophomore Kat Barnes, who missed high on the second chance.

At halftime, with the score even at 0-0, Messiah head coach Scott Frey encouraged the girls to do one thing:

Score early and score often.

As the rain clouds gathered in intensity, so did the Falcons’ attack.

Frey’s club would immediately gain possession off the second half tap with pressure from Hench. She then carried the ball down the left sideline, where she slotted a pass to senior Amanda Naeher. Taking possession of the ball, Naeher laced a rope from the center of the field, barely beyond the 18-yard box, to the far post 37 seconds into the second half.

With a 1-0 Messiah lead now in hand, the rain continued.

Less than two minutes later, Naeher played a perfect ball to the feet of Hench, who ran past the last defender and shot low and to the far post, barely making it past the W&L sophomore keeper Emily Leary.

And the rain kept falling.

Eleven minutes later freshman Corrine Wulf made a run past the Generals’ back line and found herself inside the W&L 18-yard box. Unsure whether to shoot or pass, she took one more touch then played a strong, low cross across the mouth of the net, past Leary where senior Amy Horst shot and slid into the ball for the goal.

The tandem of Wulf and Horst would meet again at the 62:37 mark, as sophomore Lisa Wingard made a darting run along the right side line. Wingard then sent a searching ball into the box which found the head of Wulf. With a flick, she redirected the cross to the left side of the goal where she found Horst for goal number two.

Frey said he was pleased with the second half possession.

“Possession and moving the ball creates quality chances,” he said. “We had many chances in the first but we missed out on making them great and useful. In the second half, we created those quality chances with our possession and ball movement and we used that to our advantage.”

Senior Katlyn Musser was both a creator and beneficiary of the ball movement and possession game, working the midfield in the 64th minute for what would be one of her most memorable sequences: Musser gathered a loose ball at the 64:45 mark just outside the 18 and shot a low blast to Leary, who could not handle the rocket.

As Musser’s teammates began to realize that the ball was actually in the back of the net, chaos ensued. Musser — a three-year defender turned midfielder — had scored her first career goal.

Frey claimed the post-goal celebration “was probably the most heartfelt” in the history of Shoemaker Field.

As Musser’s moment finally waned, Messiah continued to dominate. The second half would not produce a scoring chance for the Generals, compliments of a strong Messiah defense.

“Our back row played very well,” said Frey. “They played strong and gave up nothing easy. I was very pleased with their effort. When we play like we did today; when we possess and move around the ball, we are a tough team to beat.”

Messiah will return to Shoemaker Field Wednesday night, as the Falcons host nearby rival York College. Game time is set for 7 p.m.