GRANTHAM, Pa. – Messiah out-shot Lebanon Valley 4-1 in penalty kicks and the top-seeded Falcons slipped by the fourth-seeded Flying Dutchmen in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals Wednesday evening at Shoemaker Field.

No. 5 Messiah (18-0), which defeated LVC 1-0 in the Commonwealth Conference championship match a year ago, stayed unbeaten with the win, their 11th consecutive shutout. LVC closed out its 2002 season with an 11-6-2 record.

Jamie Gasiorowski and Heather Runkle (Camp Hill, Pa./Camp Hill) each connected on the opening penalty kick and Holly Shifflett put Messiah ahead 2-1 when she drilled home a shot to the lower right corner of the net. Jess Coles (Pilesgrove, N.J./Woodstown) then stepped up for the Valley but her shot was saved by Messiah keeper Maggie Futato. On the third kick, Erin Benedict made it 3-1 in favor of Messiah and Futato came up with her second straight save on Ilyse Resnick’s (Holland, Pa./Council Rock) attempt. Emily Benson converted Messiah’s fourth straight kick to give the Falcons the victory.

Messiah out-shot LVC 10-3 for the game. First-year student Jess Conrad (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) made eight saves in net for LVC and Futato stopped three shots for Messiah.

Lebanon Valley       0        0     0     0     -   0
Messiah                   0        0     0     0     -   1

Shots: Lebanon Valley 3. Messiah 10.
Penalty Corners: Lebanon Valley 2. Messiah 1.
Saves: Lebanon Valley (Jess Conrad) 8. Messiah (Maggie Futato) 3.
Fouls: Lebanon Valley 17. Messiah 12.
Team Records: Lebanon Valley 11-6-2. Messiah 18-0.

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