Grantham, PA – No. 1 Messiah College scored three times and held No. 18 Rowan University to just a single shot in a shutout win in the NCAA Sectional Semifinal. The win pushed Messiah into the Sectional Final for the second-straight season where they will play the winner of Hardin-Simmons and No. 10 Swarthmore.
 
Holly Burgard tallied the first goal in the 27th minute and Nikki Elsaesser put through two goals in the second-half to seal the win. The output for Elsaesser was her third-straight game with two goals.
 
Messiah was poised to score long before Burgard's goal when Elsaesser was slotted into the box in the eighth minute, but her touch went off the slide of keeper Shelby Money. The save from Money was one of five in the first-half, but the opportunity by Messiah was a sign of things to come; the Falcons collected 15 shots in the first-half and they finally broke through on a fortunate play midway through the frame.
 
Missy Biener started the action for the Falcons when she pushed into the left side of the box and dropped a pass back to Macualay Soto. The midfielder tried to quickly find Burgard, but her pass trickled to a defender instead. But to Messiah's benefit, the Profs could not handle possession and a deflection came to Burgard anyway. The senior made a quick pivot and lofted a shot to the far post where Money could not recover in time. The goal was sudden and it took a half-second for most players to realize it went through.
 
The tally for Burgard was her 11th this season and third in the past three games.
 
Messiah took the 1-0 lead through the break and it wasn't long into the second-half that Elsaesser made it 2-0. Burgard collected the helper on the score after pushing possession to the left side. Elsaesser made a turn to the midfield and pushed on one touch to launch a 25-yard strike. The shot was slightly deflected into the box, and the carom changed the path just enough to let it tuck inside the far post.
 
Just over 10 minutes later Elsaesser tallied again when a cross from Kate Shults was bobbled atop the six-yard line by Money. Elsaesser was there to quickly poke it through for a 3-0 lead. The tally gave Elsaesser 30 goals this season as joined Amanda Naeher (three times) as the only players in program history to reach the 30-goal plateau.
 
Messiah finished with a 31-1 edge in shots, with Audra Larson grabbing a lone save. Their possession grew only stronger and stronger as the game wore on, and Rowan struggled to build any momentum the other way. Money finished with nine saves for the Profs.
 
The shutout for the Falcons was sixth-straight and 20th this season.
 
As mentioned, Messiah will play the winner of Hardin-Simmons and Swarthmore on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.