Grantham, PA — Geographically speaking, fans in attendance at Shoemaker Field Wednesday night must have felt a little bit greedy.
With only 31 miles separating York College from Messiah, one could make the argument that the rest of the soccer nation was being cheated.
Is it really fair for two teams this good to be this close in proximity?
An announced crowd of 2,500 would provide witness to such a sentiment (the actual attendance was probably much higher), as Messiah — ranked second in the latest NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 Poll — and York (ranked third) put on a magnificent display of soccer in an eventual 2-1 decision for the visiting Spartans. An early Messiah goal was answered by both a conventional and a “fluky” goal from York, giving the visitors a repeat of its 2007 result occurring 31 miles to the south.
“York's an excellent team that is playing very, very well right now,” said Dave Brandt, Messiah head coach. “We're still young and learning how to play. It's disappointing to lose, but there were some positives for us tonight.”
A match highly anticipated since the '08 schedules were released, Wednesday's game did not disappoint from the outset. Winning the coin flip nearly resulted in a 1-0 York advantage in the game's first 19 seconds, as the Spartans took the opening tap, dribbled down the left side of the field and crossed the ball into the Messiah 18-yard box.
After Falcons' junior keeper Jared Clugston denied a shot on goal, the ball landed at the feet of an unmarked York forward just yards off the end line. Incredibly, the rebound attempt sailed just over the crossbar, averting instant disaster for the hosts.
Nearly the exact same scenario would play out for York (13-0) just nine minutes later, again with the same, forgiving result. A diving save from Clugston would thwart yet another Spartan push, as a strong contingent of York faithful groaned in the stands.
“It very easily could have been 3-0 in the first 10 minutes,” Brandt said. “We were very fortunate.”
Instead, it would be Messiah (9-1-1) that would strike first, as senior Josh Sanders took a through ball from sophomore Nick Thompson and began dribbling toward the York cage just over 20 minutes into play.
Creating space from the back line of Spartan defenders, Sanders calmly touched the ball around an advancing York keeper (Kyle Marks), tapping a point-blank shot into an open net at the 21:10 mark.
“It was a great goal from Josh who was very mature in that situation,” Brandt said. “We knew that it would be a long, back-and-forth, ebb-and-flow type of game, though. We knew that (Sanders' goal) wasn't going to decide anything by the time we were all through.”
Facing a team that had scored 39 times in its first 12 games, Brandt was correct. York notched the equalizer just over 10 minutes later, as the Spartans' Jon Ports made a run into the penalty area before slipping his shot past Clugston at the 31:37 mark.
Things would stay knotted up until the 62nd minute, when a broken set play off a York free kick would give the visitors the lead for good. Following a Messiah foul just beyond the right side of its own 18-yard box, York played a ball that was promptly cleared by a Falcons' defender.
York was able to head the ball back toward the Messiah frame, however, landing at the feet of Spartan freshman forward Kemal Nuspahic. Nuspahic played a quick cross to teammate Chris Ports, who one-touched a close-range blast that settled into the top shelf with 62:29 elapsed.
“Our backs didn't clear fast enough, and that allowed York to be onside,” Brandt said of the bang-bang series. “It was a mistake on our part on kind of a fluky play.”
Down 2-1 with just under 30 minutes to play, Brandt's club would not go down quietly. An 8-1 advantage in second-half shots yielded some quality opportunities, with three chances drawing the most audible gasps from the Shoemaker crowd.
Prior to York's go-ahead score, freshman Trevor Lee got a clean look at the Spartans' frame and unleashed a rocket that went wide of the far post by mere inches. Off one of three second-half corners, Thompson volleyed a shot to the near post that was cleared off the line by Nuspahic, holding his position on the post in corner-kick defense.
Perhaps the most memorable Messiah chance came with just 51 seconds to play, as the Falcons were awarded their final corner kick. As the crowd rose to their feet in hopes of overtime, Sanders sent a beautiful ball into the goal mouth. Senior JD Binger was there to thrash a header into the frame, only for Nuspahic to head the ball off the end line, preserving the outcome.
Messiah finished with a 12-8 advantage in total shots, putting six on frame to York's five. Marks finished with two saves in goal for the Spartans, while Clugston recorded three. York won the corner-kick battle 8-3, picking up 14 fouls to Messiah's 11 and two yellow cards to the Falcons' one.
The Falcons will not have long to sit on their first loss of the season, as The College of New Jersey will visit Shoemaker Field Saturday evening. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
