MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – With crisp execution and relentless effort in the circle, Millersville overwhelmed visiting Frostburg State by a 6-0 score Wednesday evening at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium, improving to 2-0 on the young season.
The game was not even as close as the six-goal differential would indicate. Millersville blanked Frostburg State in shots and penalty corners while totaling 26 shots and 20 corners. Frostburg State keeper Madison Manalansan was busy in the cage, and she admirably turned away 14 shots.
Bri Harsh and
Kayla Michaels led the Millersville onslaught. Harsh, who recorded a hat trick in the opener, scored two goals and added an assist, and Michaels scored twice for her first career goals.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
• Millersville cashed in on its penalty corners, scoring five times in its sets. Harsh put the Marauders on the board just over three minutes into the game. She started the corner and found an opening on the left side of the cage. Pili Ziballa's first shot was saved, but her second shot, elevated slightly, found the stick of Harsh, who tipped it into the cage.
• Four minutes later, Michaels found herself in an identical position. This time, it was
Ashlynn Lennon's blast from the top of the circle that was redirected.
• The score stayed 2-0 until the closing minute of the second quarter. On another Millersville corner, Manalansan saved
Morgan Saunders' smash from the top of the circle, but
Qhayiya Nogoduka was the in the right spot for the rebound, and she pushed it through traffic for a 3-0 Millersville lead.
• Millersville scored three more times in the first nine minutes of the third quarter. Michaels made it 4-0 when she gathered a loose ball off a save and ripped a shot past the keeper. Saunders scored her second goal of the season with a rocket from just inside the circle, and Harsh capped the scoring by swiping in a long, pinpoint pass from
Brynne Ehrlacher.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Nine players accounted for Millersville's 20 shots. Michaels led the team with five shots attempted.
• Freshman goalkeeper
Kerstin Koons did not face a shot but was credited with a second consecutive shutout.
REACTION FROM COACH SHELLY BEHRENS
•
On the team's offensive execution: "I love to see us get better game one to game two. Lot's of positives and a ton of things to look at and get better. We played everyone. With personnel changes, adaptations, it's a positive. They are finding their way together. We showed some nice connectivity."
•
On scoring in a variety of ways: "We had relentlessness in the circle--second effort, third effort--whatever it took. We didn't get down when the first shot didn't go our way. Credit to (Frostburg State) and their goalkeeper. But we found different ways with determination, movement and hockey IQ. It was things we worked on. What we worked on in our time away, we are seeing payoff now."
•
On the performance of Kayla Michaels: "She's worked so hard in the off time, spring time and last fall. She really invested in herself, became a student of the game, listened, made corrections. She's a magnet--incredibly coachable."
NOTES
• Millersville's plus-13 goal differential is the program's best over the first two games of a season since the 1973 club outscored Wilkes and Albright 19-0.
• It is just the sixth time in program history that Millersville has started a season with back-to-back shutouts, joining the 2019, 2014, 1980, 1971 and 1950 teams.
UP NEXT
• Millersville plays three more home games in the next six days. First up Limestone on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 12 p.m.
