Grantham, PA — So this was why the World Series was postponed.
Messiah hosted Albright College in a MAC Commonwealth contest Tuesday night at Shoemaker Field, only for Mother Nature to steal the show: Winds blew at a steady 25 to 35 miles per hour throughout the match while gusts howled at up to 45 miles per hour, making every lofted ball an experiment in physics.
Those conditions didn't deter Messiah — ranked ninth in the latest NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 Poll — from its third straight shut-out win, however, as the Falcons controlled the visiting Lions from start to finish in a 6-0 decision.
“I don't know any soccer people that like to play in the wind,” said Messiah head coach Dave Brandt. “This was the stiffest wind I've seen at Shoemaker Field in all my years here. It was pretty incredible.”
Winning the coin toss and electing to go into the wind during the first half, Messiah (12-2-2, 3-1) somehow overcame both a packed Albright box and an almost comical gale early. As playing balls into the air became an exercise in futility, Brandt's club utilized a strong possession game on the ground that resulted in the game-winning goal just 6:17 in. Senior Josh Sanders made a diagonal run through the Lions' box and received a nice slip through from sophomore Nick Thompson, blasting a shot from 12 yards out that got past Albright keeper Wendell Hannaford.
It would be the first of three scores on the night for Sanders, as the forward carded his first collegiate hat trick in the most memorable of weather conditions. Sanders tacked on his second goal just under 20 minutes following his first, this time taking a cross from freshman Danny Thompson and one-touching a sliding effort into the center of the net, giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead at the 27:13 mark.
It was an advantage that Messiah would carry into halftime.
Perhaps just as important was the continual squall that would now be going with the Falcons in the second period.
As Albright (4-11, 0-5) continued to sit back in an all-out effort to defend, clearing balls out of their backfield became a Herculean task. The statistics would reflect as much, as Messiah kept its opponent from registering both a shot and a corner kick for the second straight game.
Brandt's club tacked on its third score of the evening just over seven minutes into the final period, as Nick Thompson made a run from the midfield and received a nice slip from sophomore Geoff Pezon. Thompson then finished the job with a low liner at the 52:47 mark, his third goal of the season.
Sanders completed his hat trick with 63:52 elapsed, scoring perhaps the most mundane of this three tallies following a scrum in front of the Albright cage. As the Falcons' relentless pressure resulted in nearly the entire game taking place on the Lions' half of the mid stripe, Sanders was in the right place at the right time to poke home a loose ball to put his team up 4-0.
Danny Thompson and freshman Tom Renko provided the final margin with scores at the 72:40 and 85:45 marks, respectively, as Thompson's goal came after an impressive solo effort. Winning the ball at midfield, Thompson dribbled through three defenders before beating Lions' substitute keeper William Howard to the far post. Renko's goal came off senior Mike Rinker's first assist of the season, as a nicely placed ball was fired into the back of the cage via a low, grounded effort.
Messiah out-shot Albright by a 26-0 difference while registering 13 corner kicks to the Lions' none. It was the third straight win for the team by at least a 5-0 difference, while Sanders has seemingly found his offensive niche, scoring five goals in the team's last two outings.
“It was good for us to get the early goal, and I thought we moved the ball well in the first half against a very stiff wind,” Brandt said. “That made it tough for Albright in the second half, trying to go against that wind while already being down two.”
Messiah will have little time to recoup from its blustery evening, as a make-up date with Arcadia University is up next. Originally scheduled for last Saturday, a day-long storm front pushed that event to Thursday. The Falcons will follow by hosting Elizabethtown College Saturday night, the final regular-season contest and last of a three-game in five-day stretch.
With just two regular-season conference games remaining, Messiah could finish anywhere from the number one seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Playoffs to missing that post-season tournament altogether.
“This is a big, big week for us,” Brandt said. “We're not even thinking about how this (post-season scenario) winds up until all the dust settles. We're moving on to Arcadia, and that's it.”
Messiah will make its first trip to the Knights' home turf in program history Thursday. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.
