Field Hockey Ends Season
Cody Swartz
Issue date: 12/10/09 Section: Sports
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The Falcons' roster featured four All-Americans - junior midfielder Julie Barton and junior forward Kourtney Ehly, each of whom was named to the First-Team roster, along with senior goalie Ashley Mowery, a Second-Team member for her second straight season, and senior Katie Love, a Third-Team member. Barton, who not only earned First-Team All-American status for her second straight season, was also honored as the 2009 NFHCA Division III National Player of the Year, becoming just the third player in Messiah history to do so, and the first to do it in just her junior year.
The team was coached by Hall of Famer Jan Trapp, a 37-year veteran as the Falcons' head coach. Trapp led the Falcons to just the second undefeated regular season in the program's history while garnering her 16th league title, 13th Final Four appearance and seventh berth in the national championship game. Along the way, Trapp captured her 500th win as a head coach, becoming just the third coach in college field hockey history to do so, while extending her record of games coached to 703 - an all-time college field hockey record at any level.
The Falcons coasted through the regular season as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation among Division III schools, defeating its opponents with relative ease. There were some close calls along the way, such as the consecutive 3-2 overtime wins against No. 10 ranked Lynchburg College and No. 2 ranked Salisbury, the first of which took two overtime periods for Messiah to win. But the blowouts too, as Messiah shutout its opponents eight times during regular season play, plus two additional times in the playoffs. There were those games to remember, such as the triple sweep of No. 7 Lebanon Valley College - once in the regular season, once to capture the Commonwealth Championship, and once in overtime to advance to the Final Four. And finally there was Messiah's thrilling postseason run, as the Falcons stormed through the NCAA playoffs before a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Salisbury in the Division III championship.
The Falcons - who ended the regular season 17-0 - captured the Commonwealth Championship easily, with an 8-0 win over Widener University in the Semi-Finals and a 2-1 win against Lebanon Valley in the championship game. From there, the Falcons earned a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament, before hosting Eastern University, a game Messiah won with ease, 3-0. Next was the team's biggest test of the season to that point in time, a tough game against Lebanon Valley in which Messiah won just over five minutes into overtime by a 3-2 score. In the Final Four, Messiah trailed by a 2-0 halftime deficit against Ursinus College before Kourtney Ehly's hat trick propelled the Falcons to a narrow 4-3 win and an appearance in the national championship game against Salisbury. The Falcons fought Salisbury - a team that defeated Messiah 1-0 in the national championship game back in 2005 - for 70 tough minutes but once again fell short, 1-0.
The Falcons graduate eight seniors this year - Love, Mowery, Katrina Campbell, Brittany Godshall, Mary Hoover, Jenna Max, Emily Sauder, and Liz Ziegler - who leave behind a strong legacy of excellence in Messiah field hockey. While it will definitely not be easy to replace the aforementioned players, Messiah does boast a strong roster of talented players who should be more than able to step up and keep Messiah one of the elite teams in not only their conference, but all of Division III. Barton, the top field hockey player in the nation, is just a junior and will be returning, as will Ehly, the team's leading scorer (29 goals) for the season. Amber Philpot and Emily Hursh, who ranked fourth and seventh respectively in scoring despite starting just a combined three games all season, will be back and ready to step into starting roles. This team is well-built for the future and as long as Coach Trapp is leading this team, fans should expect another strong season culminating with a deep playoff run.
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