In the battle between nationally-ranked top three programs, the Misericordia University women's soccer team walked away with a 1-1 tie in its interleague showdown with Messiah, Saturday at Mangelsdorf Field.  The Cougars are now 6-0-1 on the season.

Ally Waite scored the lone goal for MU in the 35th minute.

MU's Brenna Field intercepted a cross in front of the goal to break up an early Messiah threat.

A corner kick set up Michaela Fasolino for the first shot of the afternoon, but it sailed wide right in the sixth minute.

The Cougars threatened five minutes later when Fasolino caught the Falcons off guard in their own territory, but her pass to Carly Stoner was just out of reach.

The Misericordia defense made a curtail stand in the 14th minute after Messiah went coast to coast in transition. Haleigh Wintersteen got a foot on a cross to disrupt the sequence, and Farr muscled her way over the attacker for the clear.

Messiah's first shot of the game came in the 20^th minute and caromed off the left post.

Farr's shot from 30 yards out was stopped in the 23rd minute and Emma Sweitzer's chance from the same spot but went wide right just three minutes later.

The Falcons had an opportunity in the 31st minute off a deflection in the box, but their shot from 10 yards out hit the crossbar.

The Cougars took a 1-0 lead at 34:39 when Sabrina Competiello played a ball from the right flank that was headed down by a Messiah defender, but Waite's perfectly placed shot from 30 yards out hit the inside of the right post and find the back net.

MU's last chance in the first half came after Brenna Field made a clear deep in the defensive zone and Sweitzer was able to advance the ball into Messiah territory after splitting several defenders. The play eventually led to an MU corner kick.

The first action of the second half came during the 49th minute when Waite's left-footed strike was saved.

Messiah knotted the score when they knocked home a loose ball in front of the net in the 52^nd minute.

Julia Beck's free kick was just right of the goal in the 58^th minute.

The tag-team of Beck and Kate Field made a strong defensive stand to keep Messiah out of the box in the 61st minute.

A dangerous ball by the Falcons set up a shot on goal that was saved by a right-side dive by Madi Welliver in the 83^rd minute.

MU travels up I-81 to face Scranton, Wednesday at 4:30.

Coach Stauffer's Comments: "I thought overall, today was a quality match between two top teams. We did a really good job of keeping them in front of us and we picked the right times to get forward to create our chances. But, when you have two of the top three teams in the country playing, you know it's going to be one of those games where both sides have to decide when you're going to allow possession and make good choices in when to press. I think it's a good 1-1 result for both sides. Now, we just need to get the whole group healthy as we had into October."