By Alexandra Parado
Sports Editor
The field hockey team broke its undefeated streak in Grantham, Pennsylvania when it fell to Messiah College, 4-2 on Saturday, Sept. 15.
The College, ranked No. 3, falls behind second-ranked Messiah College in the New Jersey Athletic Conference rankings. Last season, the Lions concluded their 2017 season with a one-point deficit against Messiah in the NCAA Tournament semifinals.
Messiah repeated history and succeeded against the Lions, keeping its record undefeated while receding the College’s record to 3-1.
Messiah striked early and put themselves on the scoreboard just a little over five minutes into the game.
In the opening half, both sides remained aggressive even though neither team was able to score a goal. The score remained 1-0 going into the second half of the game.
The Lions put consistent pressure on Messiah during the beginning of the second half. This perseverance resulted in three penalty corners and three shots, but two shot attempts were blocked and one was too wide to make it into the net.
This burst of force was not enough to flip the score, as Messiah was able to score three more times in the second half of the game.
With five minutes remaining, the Lions scored a pair of goals less than a minute apart from each other. Senior forward/midfielder Caroline Quinn responded to Messiah’s fourth goal by taking the opportunity to shoot, which resulted in the Lions’ first goal this match. Fifty five seconds later, junior forward/midfielder Kayla Peterson striked off a penalty corner kick for the team’s second and final goal of the afternoon.
Messiah outshot the Lions 14-8, marking the first time the field hockey team has been outshot by an opponent this season.
The Lions hope to bounce back this week when they travel to Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania to face Gwynedd Mercy University on Tuesday, Sept. 18 and Salisbury University in Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 22.
