Messiah bounces back, spoiling Eastern’s homecoming with 5-1 win

Messiah bounced back from their first loss of the season at Rowan on Wednesday with a convincing 5-1 in over Eastern, spoiling the Eagles homecoming game on Friday afternoon in Radnor Township.

No. 1 Messiah (12-1-0) was on the front foot early but Eastern goalkeeper Faith Leake (Philadelphia, Pa.) – fresh off a MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week honor – was up to the task, denying multiple early chances. The Eagles (7-3-3) were caught ball-watching though on the opener from Hannah Adair (Manheim, Pa.) who finished neatly inside the box off a cut back from Alayna Williams (Mechanicsburg, Pa.). Brittany Laird (Manheim, Pa.) doubled the lead 10 minutes later with a lovely curling effort from just outside the corner of the 18.

The Falcons took the lead into the break and Addi Martin (Stevens, Pa.) opened things up with a pair of goals in a three-minute span early in the second half. Martin had another opportunity off a break that hit the crossbar as Eastern was pushing forward to try and find their way back into the game.

Kate Malcolm (Strasburg, Pa.) was able to pull one back for the hosts in the 70th minute off an assist from Zoe Roidl but by then the game was out of reach. Nikki Davis added a fifth for Messiah in the 77th minute off an assist from center back Ella Lent-Koop, who was close on a couple occasions to finding the back of the net herself on a couple adventurous runs forward.

Eastern’s five goals conceded equaled the total conceded in their first 12 games of the season. The loss evened Eastern’s conference record at 1-1 with five games to play. Messiah has a local derby match with Penn State Harrisburg on Tuesday ahead of their five remaining conference games. That match will feature the two highest scoring offenses in the region: Penn State Harrisburg has 43 goals in 14 games while Messiah now has 37 goals in 13 games.