Box Score GRANTHAM, Pa. – No. 1 Franklin & Marshall suffered its first loss of the season after dropping a 5-1 decision against No. 12 Messiah in non-conference field hockey action on Wednesday night.
The defeat moved the Diplomats' record to 10-1, ending an impressive win streak to open the season that ranked second-best in program history. The Falcons improved to 8-2 with the triumph.
Messiah struck early in the first when the Falcons' Moriah Pfautz charged up the field and fired a shot into the cage just six minutes into the contest to hand Messiah a 1-0 lead.
Action remained scoreless throughout the remainder of the first until a flurry of scoring in the closing minute of the half. Meghan Barlow knotted the score at 1-1 with only 59 seconds remaining on the clock with her second goal of the season.
However, the lead remained tied for a mere 19 seconds when Pfautz notched her second of the game to send the Falcons into the half with a 2-1 lead.
Entering play ranked second in the nation in goals against average (0.5), the Diplomats struggled to keep Messiah off the board in the second half.
Neither squad could generate offense in the beginning of the second until back-to-back goals from Messiah in the 43rd and 44th minute gave the Falcons a commanding 4-1 advantage.
Messiah capped off the scoring just 10 minutes later when the Falcons' Celina Nissley collected a rebound off an Avery Koep save and fired a shot past the F&M keeper to make the score 5-1.
The Falcons outshot the Diplomats 12-6 through 70 minutes of play, while holding the edge on penalty corners at 6-3. Koep (9-1) was handed the loss after allowing five goals on six shots, while Molly Gebrosky (8-2) emerged with the win by collecting a pair of saves in the game.
F&M will look to get back on track when it faces off against Muhlenberg in Centennial Conference (CC) action on Friday. The contest is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start.
