Grantham, PA — Midway through the first half of Wednesday night's match-up between 23rd-ranked Dickinson College and second-ranked Messiah, Falcons head coach Dave Brandt witnessed his premonition come to life.
Dickinson — winners of six straight contests and cracking the NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 Poll for the first time this season — was taking it to Brandt's back line, mounting a physical attack that had the majority of the 1,500 Shoemaker Field spectators gasping on each near miss around the Falcons' frame.
It was no surprise to Brandt.
“We hadn't played Dickinson since the 2004 season (a 5-1 Messiah win on Oct. 20), and they have been getting better since then,” Brandt said. “We knew the dynamics of this game were going to make it difficult.
“Their size, their strength, not having played us in four years. . .” he paused. “I knew this was going to be a very tough test.”
Fortunately for Messiah (7-0-1), it was able to outlast the Red Devils' advances. After being out shot in the game's first 45 minutes by a 9-6 count and allowing four corners while generating none of their own, the Falcons turned the tables in the second half of play, culminating with a 24-yard blast off the left foot of sophomore Geoff Pezon to ice the game in a 1-0 victory.
It was, perhaps, Messiah's most impressive outcome of the season, if for no other reason than the spectacular effort put forth by Dickinson (6-2).
“They played us straight up,” Brandt said afterward. “They exposed us in some ways, and we'll learn from it.”
Starting six seniors, Dickinson showed no signs of packing their formation in its own defensive third, hoping for a counter-attack opportunity. Instead, the Red Devils came out aggressively, and dangerously. Three first-half shots on the Falcons' cage were narrowly off the mark, while another required a diving save from junior goalkeeper Jared Clugston.
As the clock ticked toward zeroes and the scoreboard still reading 0-0, Brandt knew changes were in order.
“Their level of pressure was so high in the first half,” Brandt said. “Some of it was us, but a lot of it was them. We needed to get to halftime to sort some things out.”
With the advantage — and momentum — clearly in Dickinson's favor at the intermission, Brandt spoke calmly to his team.
“We needed to make some tactical changes,” he said. “Our guys needed to be enabled a bit, so (halftime) was helpful in that regard.”
With that, the landscape of the game slowly began to change. Messiah started controlling the possession game, eventually evident on paper: The Falcons registered eight shots to Dickinson's five in the second half, all while attempting six corner kicks to the Red Devils' two.
The breakthrough moment would not come until the 74:33 mark, however, as freshman Trevor Lee took a through ball and began dribbling the ball toward the Red Devils' cage. With two defenders on his back, Lee elected to stop on a dime and rip an attempt from just outside the top of the 18-yard box.
His shot was deflected by one of those defenders just inches after he struck it, resulting in a redirect both backwards and to the left. Streaking down the center left lane, Pezon eventually found the ball at his feet, sending a left-footed volley from 24 yards out that beat Dickinson keeper Rodrigo Barboza to the far post.
The score set off one of the wildest celebrations of the year on the Falcons' sideline.
“I think we were able to outlast them a bit,” Brandt said. “A system change (at halftime) enabled us to pass the ball more effectively. That was the key change for us.”
Pezon paced Messiah's attack up front, charting four shots en route to his team-leading 10th goal of the season. Sophomore Nick Thompson carded three shots, while Lee attempted two.
Dickinson's physicality was noted in a 16-9 discrepancy in total fouls.
“In some ways we kept our discipline well, in other ways we did not,” Brandt said. “And by that I mean that it was not in our attitude or approach, but rather how we played. This was a very good test for us, and hopefully we'll benefit from it down the road.”
Messiah will return to Shoemaker Field Saturday night, as the team will host Bethany College at 7 p.m. It's the second contest in a five-game home stand for the Falcons.
