Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University field hockey team was edged by Messiah 1-0 on Saturday afternoon at Sprague Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (1-4) stood tall defensively early, as the Falcons recorded two shots within the opening six minutes that went wide of the cage. Montclair countered with back-to-back penalty corners a minute later but the Messiah defense held the Red Hawks without a shot during the sequence. The visitors amassed four penalty corners down the stretch of the opening stanza and could only create one shot attempt through the Montclair defense, as the two sides finished scoreless through 15 minutes.
• Messiah started the second quarter strong, notching an early penalty corner leading to another shot attempt that trickled wide of the cage. On the ensuing penalty corner, SYDNEY WHITE tallied back-to-back saves in front of the cage to keep the visitors out. White notched another save five minutes later, with the resulting shot on the sequence going wide and out of play. The Red Hawks tallied their first two shots of the contest, as SADIE EICHLIN and BELLA HEISER tried to break the game open. White recorded a save in the quarter's waning stages to go into the break scoreless.
• Shortly after halftime, NATALIE SURMA sent a shot on target that had to be parried away by the Falcons. A few minutes later, Messiah countered with a flurry of shots with a penalty corner sandwiched in between. White tallied three saves during the stretch, keeping the game level. On the ensuing possession, Heiser notched a shot on target that was saved by Messiah. The Red Hawks received another save from White with two and a half minutes on the clock, as the two sides went into the final 15 level. 
• Messiah broke through in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter, connecting on a long shot from just inside the circle to take the lead. The Falcons kept pushing offensively over the ensuing stretch, placing three shots on target over a three-minute span, with White notching a trio of stops. Messiah tightened up defensively down the stretch, holding the home side without a shot to seal the road victory.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Heiser led the way offensively with two shots, including one on frame.
• White accumulated 12 saves for the afternoon, one shy of her season-high set at Franklin & Marshall on September 6.

FROM THE FIELD

"Messiah is a great opponent and I thought we showed resilience throughout the game today. Our defensive unit led by SYDNEY WHITE and ANNA DONALDSON is excellent and they kept us in the game in many important instances today. We can't win games without scoring goals. We will continue to focus on our attacking phases of play, creating more scoring opportunities and scoring early and often." - Head Coach Eileen O'Reilly

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will travel to face DeSales on Wednesday, September 17. Game time from Center Valley, PA is scheduled for 7:00 PM.