Montclair State University Athletics

Mechanicsburg, PA – The Montclair State University field hockey (5-9) hit the road for a matchup at #23 Messiah (9-5), where they fell by a score of 5-0 on Wednesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons offense came out of the blocks hot and went on the attack early. SYDNEY WHITE was challenged early with four shots on goal in just under two and a half minutes into the contest, denying all those shots. She made another save at 4:09 but was unable to stop the rebound shot that came just seven seconds later, and Messiah took a 1-0 lead. Under a minute later, the Falcons buried another shot that extended their lead to two. After another series of offensive possessions, Messiah found one more goal in the opening frame at 11:18 to take a 3-0 lead into the second.
• Messiah kept the pressure up in the second quarter. They kept Montclair without a shot throughout the period, while generating five of their own. White was able to keep them off the scoreboard, stopping all three shots on goal. Those saves kept the matchup at 3-0 going into the second half.
• In the third quarter, Messiah was able to overcome a few fouls that gave Montclair possession. At the 34:48 mark, the Falcons fired in their fourth goal of the matchup to command a 4-0 advantage. The Red Hawks kept the Falcons off the scoreboard for the rest of the period, but were unable to generate an offense to cut the lead.
• White made another pair of saves to begin the fourth. At the 48:35 mark, Montclair saw its lone penalty corner of the matchup. EMMA BIANCO rocketed off a shot off the corner that missed its target. Messiah finished off a strong performance with three goals in the final five minutes of the matchup to come away with a 7-0 win.

INSIDE THE RESULTS 

• White finished her day in the cage with 18 saves. She was one off from putting her name on the single-game record book for a third time this season, already posting games of 23 and 21 this year.

FROM THE FIELD 

• "This game was an important preparation opportunity for our upcoming game at TCNJ and we wanted to gain experience on the Astro turf surface. Despite a challenging start in the first quarter I thought we adjusted well to the speed of play and improved our 1v1 defense in the second and third quarters. We need to stay consistent in these areas and follow our game plan in each quarter. We are leaving Messiah with several important focus areas for our next game and we are ready for a challenge against TCNJ on Saturday." Head Coach Eileen O'Reilly

 
UP NEXT 

• Montclair will remain on the road, but return to NJAC play on Saturday, October 24, facing #23 TCNJ. That game is set for a 1:00 p.m. start.