GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College field hockey team held second-ranked Messiah College without a goal in the second half and narrowly missed one of the biggest upsets in program history with a 2-1 setback Wednesday afternoon at Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
 
Gettysburg (6-4) held its own against Messiah (10-0), which has competed in the national championship game in each of the last two seasons. The Bullets recorded three shots at the cage in the opening 21 minutes, but Falcon goalie Shelby Landes stopped each attempt to preserve the scoreless deadlock.
 
Messiah connected on the game's first goal in the 24th minute. Kaylor Rosenberry slid a pass from the right side into the middle and Kristen Levesque turned and fired a low shot into the cage.
 
After Gettysburg goalie Jillian Caputo (Haddon Township, N.J./Haddon Township) stopped a pair of shot attempts in the next nine minutes, the Falcons jumped ahead by two when Casie Stief fired a pass across the field to Jennie Young who one-timed the shot into the goal at 33:03.
 
The Bullets sliced the lead in half 13 minutes into the second period. Following a penalty corner, sophomore Grace Torrance (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) hit the ball toward the front of the cage and freshman Henna Fraiman (Lutherville, Md./Roland Park Country) redirected it past Landes for her first collegiate tally at 48:49.
 
Despite out-shooting Gettysburg 7-3 and forcing eight penalty corners, Messiah found no give to the Bullet defense in the second half. Caputo recorded three more saves in the final 15 minutes to maintain the one-goal deficit.
 
Gettysburg's potential game-tying shot came in the 68th minute, but Torrance's try from the left wing sailed just wide of the right post.
 
Messiah finished with a 16-7 lead in shots and a 9-4 edge in penalty corners.
 
Gettysburg returns to its Centennial Conference schedule with a road trip to Haverford College on Saturday, Oct. 6. Game time is set for noon.