Grove City, PA — The Messiah men's soccer team did its best impression of the United States Postal Service Tuesday afternoon, getting through rain, wind, hail and host Grove City College in a 5-0 win at the Wolverines' College Field.
In an exceptionally one-sided affair that saw Messiah (11-2-2) out-shoot its counterpart by a 32-0 difference, it was the weather that stole the show early, as crisp winds yielded horizontal rain and then hail for the final two minutes of the first period.
“(Grove City) had covered benches at their place, and we slid underneath them for the last couple minutes of the first half,” said Dave Brandt, Messiah head coach. “I don't know how the guys on the field felt about things. They were getting pelted.”
No game delay was rendered and sunny skies actually peeked through during the contest's second half, bringing with it a serious Messiah surge. After being held scoreless for the game's first 58 minutes, Falcons' sophomore Geoff Pezon registered a goal at the 58:09 mark. That tally yielded an ensuing 10:26 span that produced four more Messiah scores, bringing fruition to relentless pressure placed on the Grove City cage for the contest's duration.
“I thought we played well today,” Brandt said. “I thought we did some good things with the ball, but you have to score goals. I thought we played very well in the first half but it was still 0-0 (at halftime), which leaves us with a problem, of course.”
A 13-0 difference in first-half shots may not have provided Brandt's club with a lead, but a 19-0 disparity in second-half attempts would. Pezon began the scoring 13 minutes into the second period, blasting a rocket of a shot that deflected off a Wolverine defender, catching spin and settling into the side netting for a 1-0 lead.
Perhaps broken by Messiah's initial score, Grove City (5-9-2) found the going difficult for the remainder of the game, unable to get the ball out of its defensive third of the field. Senior Josh Sanders began the aforementioned four-goal parade at the game's 70:24 mark, taking a sweet cross from freshman Kent Ramirez and directing the ball into the net via header. Sanders was at it again less than four minutes later, this time curling a free kick from about 23 yards out over a Wolverines' wall at the 74:18 moment. Freshman Danny Thompson was taken down in one of just three Grove City fouls, leading to the direct-kick opportunity and Sanders' fourth goal of the season.
Thompson himself got into the scoring act just over five minutes later, being the last to touch the ball after a mad scramble in front of the Wolverines' cage with 79:23 elapsed. He then assisted on Messiah's final goal of the afternoon, splitting a nice through ball to classmate Trevor Lee at the 80:50 tick — a nice build-up and solid two-man play leading to the Falcons' final tally of the day.
Of Messiah's 32 total shots, 17 were on goal, led by Pezon's four and sophomore Nick Thompson's three. Grove City goalkeeper Sean Osborne finished with 12 saves in cage for the hosts — seven of which came in the game's first 45 minutes.
Tuesday's contest was the first game of the 2008 season in which Messiah kept an opponent for registering a shot. It was just the third time the Falcons prohibited a corner kick on the opposite end of the field.
“Their keeper made a lot of good saves in the first half, and it's good for us to know that if we stay with things we can eventually get goals,” Brandt said. “It's always important for us to keep playing. The openings got a little bigger for us as things went on today. Once you get that first one, it kind of breaks what (Grove City) was doing and makes it a bit easier.”
Messiah will remain on the road for its next tilt, returning to MAC Commonwealth Conference play Saturday at Arcadia University. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
