Box Score
Grantham, PA –There is an old adage in the sports world that helps a coach personify a team's never-say-quit attitude- “Keep playing hard until the final whistle.”
And it is not often that a team is rewarded for playing passed a whistle, but in instances such as Friday evening's Commonwealth Semifinal field hockey contest, it's imperative to play even after that final whistle sounds.
The Messiah College Falcons scored a goal seconds after hearing the scoreboard clock buzzer ring out, setting off a raucous celebration in front of the Arcadia net, sending the Falcons to the Commonwealth Conference Finals via 3-2 win over the visiting Knights.
A unique rule in field hockey allows for a team to score after time expires when a team is playing out a rewarded penalty corner. The penalty corner is to be played out until the referee deems the play finished, most often when the ball changes possession.
For Messiah, the penalty corner came on the backend of numerous opportunities in the Knights' defensive zone. Two shots from
Juliana Hershey and another from classmate
Natalie Ziegler couldn't find the net for the Falcons in the waning moments of the contest. The corner, awarded and taken with just five seconds remaining, found the stick of senior
Natalie Ziegler, which she scooped up and in to the left side of the goal.
For most fans in attendance, there was a sense of disbelief and astonishment. The Falcons were celebrating in jubilation a goal that was scored after the clock read 0:00.
For the Knights, their season ended in heartbreak, seconds away from overtime. It was a season that saw their first conference win and first trip to the Commonwealth Playoffs under 2012 Coach of the Year, Erin Livingston, and behind conference Rookie of the Year Jennie Kamel.
“I had that pass eight times during the game and I just missed the first seven,” senior
Natalie Ziegler said of her game-winning goal. “I'm just really glad that someone finally put one in.”
The Falcons seemed relieved to move onto Sunday's Commonwealth Finals game as they found themselves trailing on two separate occasions to the Knights.
After finding space in Arcadia's defense in the early moments of the contest, the Knights reversed the field and pressed into the strength of the Falcon defense. Two penalty corners and three shots later, the Falcons were looking up at 1-0 deficit.
The Falcons and senior
Juliana Hershey wouldn't falter, however. Six minutes later the senior forward finished a shot that squeezed through Mia Deplato's pads on a shot from
Heather Quirk. For Hershey, it was her team-leading ninth goal of the season. Quirk's assist was remarkably her first on the season.
With the equalizing tally the Falcons settled in, utilizing crisp stick-to-stick passing and a stifling defense to keep the pressure up on the Knights. Arcadia's Mia DePlato had other plans for the Falcons though. Four saves in just over nine minutes of play kept the score knotted at one apiece heading into the final moments of the half.
The Knight's would again gain an advantage on the scoreboard in the waning seconds of the first, perhaps a glimpse of the thrilling finish to come. A long blast from a Knights' defender near midfield went hard toward the Falcons' net. The Knights' Marilyn Beatty deflected the pass on goal, slamming the back of the net at the 34:14 mark for her second goal of the contest and 22nd of the season.
A deflated Falcons squad went into the half down 2-1, despite outshooting the Knights 10-5 through the first 35 minutes.
“We talked getting after it when we came out after halftime,” coach
Brooke Good said following the game. “We needed to get out there and execute, leaving it all out on the field.”
The Falcons would respond well to Good's halftime comments, coming out fast after the break.
Just two minutes into the second half,
Brooke Sands netted her ninth goal of the season to pull the Falcons back to even, 2-2. A long pass from senior
Kelly Martin in front of the Knights' goal deflected off the stick of Sands, passed DePlato's pads and in. Martin's assist was her team-leading ninth of the season.
From there on out, the Falcons controlled the game. The Knights' managed a staggering zero shots and were not awarded a single penalty corner during the final 35 minutes of play. Messiah managed seven shots in the second frame, off eight penalty corners.
The final corner resulted in the unfathomable goal from Ziegler after time expired.
The Knights finish the season at 15-6, the best in their program's history.
The Falcons, currently ranked ninth in the most recent NFHCA polls, improve to 16-3 on the season.
The Falcons will host Elizabethtown College on Sunday November 4 on Anderson Field for the Commonwealth Conference Championship. Messiah will be seeking its sixth-straight championship. Gametime is set for 1 p.m.
