Box Score
Grantham, PA – Messiah freshman
Holly Burgard scored her first career goal on Saturday, a game-winner in the Falcons' 5-0 win over MIT in the NCAA Sectional Semifinal. Senior
Alex Brandt tallied twice for the Falcons, with senior
Elizabeth Phillips and junior
Alicia Frey each adding a goal.
“It was an all-around good effort tonight,” Messiah head coach
Scott Frey said. “I think we had good speed of play, and we need to replicate it tomorrow.”
With the win, Messiah advances into Sunday's Sectional Final against John Hopkins. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m. on Messiah's Shoemaker Field.
Playing MIT for the first time in their program's history, Messiah grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute of play off the foot of Burgard. The assist went to classmate
Nikki Elsaesser, with Elsaesser placing a ball through the Engineer's defense and into the center of the box. Running behind her defender from the right side, Burgard chipped the ball over keeper Meghan Wright, tumbling over the goalie while the ball crossed into the goal.
“(Holly) started well early in the season,” Frey said of Burgard, who entered the game with five assists in 2012. “She was a little bit 'quiet' after that, but she's really come on well in the last few weeks. She can make things happen, and she's done a great job.”
In the 31st minute, Phillips doubled the Falcons' lead. Freshman
Trisha Tshudy put a header on a cross from the left side, with Wright saving the attempt on the goal line. However, her deflection landed at the feet of a crashing Phillips for the quick touch into the net.
“Liz has been finding ways to get into the box this year, and it's been good to see,” Frey said of the defender. The goal was Phillips' fifth of the season.
In the second half, Messiah scored three goals in a five-minute span to grab a commanding lead.
Alicia Frey scored the Falcons' third goal, a booming shot from 20 yards out in the midfield after the ball was headed out of the box by senior
Stephanie Andrews. Fifty-eight seconds later,
Alex Brandt sent home a free kick from the edge of the 18-yard line, a perfect strike that was barely touched by Wright before landing in the back of the net.
Two minutes later, Brandt again scored, this time off an impressive, hard strike from 23 yards out in the midfield to the top-left corner of the goal. Freshman
Macaulay Soto assisted on Brandt's second goal, as she led her teammate to the left side of the midfield for the goal.
“Alex had a great night,” Frey said of the ultra-talented midfielder who now has a team-high 15 goals. “She did a great job of breaking down their defense and creating great chances.
“We had a number of players play well tonight, especially our bench,” Frey continued. “Our second group really did good things for us.”
The loss ended MIT's season at 14-4-3, as they advanced into the NCAA Sectional Semifinal for the first time in program history.
“It's always exciting to play a team like Messiah, it's a fun challenge,” MIT head coach Martin Desmarais. “This is our winningest class ever, and this is a great finish to their careers.”
With the win, Messiah improves to 21-1-1 and sets them up for an NCAA Sectional Final match-up with Johns Hopkins University on Sunday. Johns Hopkins advances into the game with Messiah by way of a 3-1 win over Lynchburg College.
Messiah
defeated Johns Hopkins 4-0 earlier this season in a game played on Hopkins' home field. Sunday's game will also be a repeat of Sectional Final match-ups in both 2009 and 2010, games won by Messiah 3-1 and 2-1, respectively.
WSOC: Falcons Advance with 5-0 Win Gallery
