Student Writer
Mason McFee
Senior Holly Burgard scored the second goal of the game for Messiah. (Photo Credit: Scott Weaver)
The women’s soccer team traveled to play against the Mary Washington Eagles this past Wednesday and emerged victorious in a dominant 3-0 shutout.
Senior goalkeeper, Audra Larson, noted in practice prior to the game head coach Scott Frey emphasizing that the Eagles play with a very similar style to the Falcons. For Larson and her teammates, the match was like “playing a mirror reflection of ourselves.”
Larson added that Mary Washington’s field has “Bermuda grass— it was almost like playing on turf. We struggled playing on that surface and the passes weren’t as crisp or clean to start the game.”
A key in the match evolved during the second half. “We came out in a different formation to switch things up and become more offensive minded,”said sophomore midfielder Ally Reinhardt. She added the shift into attack mode definitely helped the team readjust mentally.
Larson and Reinhardt both highlighted their standout players of the game –junior midfielder Olivia Snare and senior forward Nikki Elsaesser, respectively.
Larson in particular spoke fondly of the “couple of players that came off the bench to provide some extra energy. Our coach really tries to do that a lot to give us that extra motivation.”
Larson added that Snare, “came off the bench and scored a goal right away and that really gave us the extra energy that we needed in the second half.”
Reinhardt went with senior Nikki Elsaesser, who scored two goals in the game at the 33 and 63 minute marks, saying she“ did a great job from the start of attacking the defensive line. She got fouled in the box and scored off a PK and was a game changer and helped us with our mentality for the rest of the game.”
Reinhardt wasn’t wrong, as the Falcons outshot the Eagles 26-2, with 12 of those being on goal as opposed to the Eagles’2. The Falcons dominated this game, and hope to continue that mentality all season long.