WESTFIELD, Mass.  –  Westfield State's fell to national powerhouse Messiah College  4-0 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday in Grantham, Pa.
 
Messiah, the 10^th ranked team in the nation in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Division III national poll, has won five national championships and made 12 appearances in the NCAA final four, and are perhaps poised for another deep tournament run.
 
The Falcons tallied three times in the opening half, pressuring the Owls defense early and often, getting on the board in the 10th minute as Brooke Firestone attacked the right side of the Owls defense and fired a hard low shot just inside the far post for a 1-0 lead.
 
Westfield State junior goalkeeper Natalia Falcone (Sutton, Mass.) had her hands full, making a big save in the 14^th minute off of a left side attack and making a 1-on-1 save, then in the 19^th minute coming up with another clutch save off of a nifty back heel shot from Firestone to keep the deficit at 1-0.
 
"Natalia played a great game in goal, and particularly in the first half," said Westfield State head coach Todd Ditmar.
 
Westfield got some good attacking play midway through the first half, generating a corner kick in the 17^th minute that resulted in Kenzie Saltmarsh (Westfield, Mass.) getting a shot off of a loose ball on the back side of the play which sailed high.  Five minutes later, the Owls' Nicole Chretien (North Attleboro, Mass.) fired a shot on goal from the top of the box that forced Falcons' goalkeeper Lydia Ewing  to make a one-hop save.
 
"We were able to get a corner kick, and generate a couple of chance, but that was about it," said Ditmar.
 
Messiah extended its lead to 2-0 in the 24^th minute, converting on Skylar Ulry's in-swinging corner kick from the right side, which was headed to the far post by Sunny Gelnovatch for the goal and a 2-0 lead.  A Westfield State defender at the back post managed to get a foot on the shot which was coming in waist high, but was unable to turn the shot away.
 
The Falcons boosted the lead to 3-0 in the 37^th minute of play, as Firestone drove the ball deep to the endline on the left side, then ripped a fabulous cross back to Emily D'Amico who ran on to the ball at the right side of the goalkeeper box and redirected it past Falcone who had come out to challenge the cross.
 
Messiah had a 19-2 advantage in total shots and a 9-1 edge in shots on goal in the opening stanza.
 
"Messiah is one of the best teams I have ever seen," said Ditmar. "They were relentless, kept pressuring us, had great touches and passed the ball very well.  Their soccer skills are outstanding, they know where their teammates will be, and connect moving the ball swiftly."
 
Messiah added a final goal in the 50^th minute with Julia Kyne tallying off an assist from Firestone.
 
"We had some good challenges, and we made some good adjustments in the second half that helped to limit them to just the one goal," said Ditmar.
 
The Owls played at less than full strength, as All-Conference junior back Caitlin MacGregor (Minnechaug/Hampden, Mass.) missed the game, and the final few weeks of the season with an injury, and senior forward Michaela St. Cyr (Lynn St. Marys/Saugus, Mass.) was also limited by injuries late in the season.
 
"We talked about that a little bit on the bench late in the game," said Ditmar. "It's definitely a little bit of what could have been, as having MacGregor would have let us be more aggressive with our formation, which was definitely a big loss today.   We were able to get by in the league playoffs, but today was too tough."
 
Messiah, now 15-2-3 on the year, advances to Sunday's second round, where they will play the winner of Scranton (Pa.) and Rowan (N.J.).  The Falcons have been a dominant program in the NCAA Division III soccer for two decades, advancing to nine NCAA title games in the last 20 years, including a penalty-kick loss in the title game in 2016.
 
The draw has not been kind to Westfield in their two most recent appearances in the NCAA's, drawing 2015 national champion Williams in the opening round that year, before travelling nearly six hours to Messiah this year. 
 
When asked if it was a good news, bad news scenario in consistently drawing some of the top teams in the nation in the NCAA's, Ditmar remarked "that's exactly it. I'm happy for our team and the trip to the NCAA's, and the more teams that we see of this caliber, the better it's going to make our program.  We're disappointed with the final score, but our players were really positive after the game."
 
Messiah finished with a 31-2 advantage in total shots, a 14-1 margin in shots on goal and a 9-1 edge in corners.
 
Falcone finished with nine saves in 78 minutes before Owls' senior Leah Ciampa came on for the final 12 minutes and made one save.
 
Westfield completes its season at 11-6-3.  The Owls were making their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance all in the last 10 years under Ditmar.
 
"Our goals before the year were to win the MASCAC regular season, win the conference tournament, and compete in the NCAA Tournament, and we reached all of our goal," said Ditmar. "I'm proud of what we accomplished.  We competed well today, and the better team won.  But the experience is a positive.  We only started two seniors today and we are excited for what we have going forward.  It's exciting to see our players realize what they need to do to move forward, and they are already talking about working hard to improve and get ready for next season."
 

Release courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information