No. 2 Messiah 2, Lebanon Valley 1 (OT)

LVC Starters
Steenkamer, Kat, Ward, Dennis, Poole, Simon, Kagarise, Alba, Pentz, Garman, ByDeley (GK)

Messiah Starters
Stief, Rosenberry, K. Levesque, Brubaker, Loht, Musser, Landis, Myers, Wiederrecht, Wetzel, Landes (GK)

How It Happened
Lebanon Valley put together perhaps its best defensive game of the season, but narrowly fell in overtime to No. 2 Messiah by a 2-1 margin on Wednesday evening in MAC Commonwealth field hockey action at Arnold Field. The Dutchmen slipped to 7-8, 2-3 MACC, while the Falcons stayed perfect and moved to 14-0, 5-0 MACC.

Just 4:45 into the second half with LVC down 1-0, Cecile Kat scored her conference-leading 19th goal of the season after Rachel Kagarise sent a pass into the circle. Kat gathered and slipped one to the left of the charging goalie to even the score at 1-1. That line helped up through the end of the half, and the two teams went into overtime.

1:09 into the extra period, Kezia Loht sent a long pass through the circle and it came to the feet of Megan Wetzel, and Wetzel netted the game-winner.

The story for much of the game was the Dutchmen's stout defense. The Falcons scored 59 seconds into the contest, and with the ball in LVC's zone for the majority of the opening half, the defense hunkered down and received stellar play from Victoria ByDeley and Nikki Willi. In the span of 14 seconds, (20:06-19:52), ByDeley stopped five Messiah shots to keep the game at 1-0. Willi came in with 14 minutes left in the first, and the Dutchmen defense continued to perform at a high level.

Inside the Numbers
 - Messiah ended with 40 shots, including 19 on net.
 - ByDeley and Willi finished with eight saves apiece.
 - Kat netted her 19th goal of the season tonight.
 - The Falcons led in penalty corners at 14-2.

Playoff Push
Messiah and Arcadia (Both 5-0) have clinched spots in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. The Dutchmen are currently tied for the fifth spot with Widener at 2-3.

Who's Next?
LVC travels to Chester on Saturday for a pivotal conference matchup with the Pride beginning at 1 p.m.

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