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Grantham, PA - Sophomore
Lizzy Keeney scored three goals to start the first half on Saturday-- and then three more to end it as Messiah College took a 14-4 halftime lead en route to an 18-7 win over Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham.
Keeney led Messiah with six goals, as the Falcons—ranked #9 in the most recent IWLCA Top 20 Poll—saw seven different players collect a score.
“Lizzy had a number of great finishes today,” Messiah head coach
Heather Greer said. “I think those goals—and many of our goals, really—was the result of us moving the ball well on offense and creating good opportunities.”
Creating opportunities may be an understatement, as the Falcons took 37 shots to the Devils' 20, scoring the most goals in one half (14) as they have since a 16-goal first half against Manhattanville College on March 26, 2011.
All three of Keeney's first three goals were assisted, with each helper coming from a different teammate. Dirksen scored all three of her goals in the first half, as well.
In total, six of the Falcons' first 14 goals were scored off assists, highlighting the teamwork referenced by Greer.
Defensively, the Falcons held the Devils off the scoreboard for long stretches in each half: 13:15 in the first half and 12:23 in the second half. Starting goalie
Taylor Phillips collected six saves, with
Kelsey Luck notching three saves of her own in the cage.
The defensive effort was more than enough to support the Falcons' offensive outburst, as Jamie Gerhart,
Cecilia Kjellman,
Kiersten McGreer, and
Meghan Doolittle all scored a pair of goals to lead Messiah to their 10
th win of the season.
“Our goal has been the same throughout the season: to get better every single day,” Greer said. “Today was a big, overall team effort, and we got better.
The Falcons move to 10-2 overall, staying at 2-0 in the Commonwealth since FDU-Florham now competes on the Freedom side of the MAC. The Devils fall to 7-6.
Messiah will next play on Wednesday, April 18 when they travel to Widener University to take on the Pride in a Commonwealth contest. Game time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
