SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 2 Salisbury University field hockey team and No. 1 Messiah College played the type of match that should happen when the top two teams in the country get together.

There was back-and-forth play and a last-second goal to send the game to overtime before the Falcons came away with a 3-2 win on Julie Barton's goal just under five minutes into overtime, Saturday afternoon at Sea Gull Stadium.

Barton scored on an unassisted chance four minutes, 40 seconds into the overtime period to mark the first Messiah win in Salisbury since Nov. 10, 1997 during the NCAA quarterfinals.

"We're not going to hang our heads. We did some great things, we hung in there," Salisbury head coach Dawn Chamberlin said following the game. "They're a very strong team, they had very hard pressure and we never gave up."

The Falcons (6-0) opened the scoring in the second half, on Kourtney Ehly's goal in the 51^st minute. Salisbury (6-1) was able to break even in the 62^nd minute on sophomore Tara McGovern's (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) second goal of the year, assisted by senior Lauren Correll (Bridgeville, Del.), but the tie would not last long.

Messiah's leading scorer, Katie Love, tallied her sixth goal of the season just four minutes later to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead.

The 2-1 score looked like it might hold up, but Salisbury was not about to give in. Salisbury got a penalty corner opportunity with 10 seconds to play and was able to convert on their last-chance as sophomore Alison Bloodsworth (Delmar, Md.) ripped a shot from the top of the arc, deflecting off a Messiah defender for the equalizer. It was Bloodsworth's second goal of the season.

The Sea Gulls had a few chances early in the overtime period, playing seven-on-seven, but could not convert, allowing the Falcons to come back the other way and claim the victory.

Salisbury will be back in action Wednesday night as it hosts No. 10 Rowan University at Sea Gull Stadium, beginning at 6 p.m.