By Travis Galaska, GoMessiah.com reporter
Reading, PA —Messiah headed over to Albright College's Gene L. Shirk Stadium Wednesday night for a Commonwealth Conference match-up.
If there was ever a time for the Falcons to experience a 'trap game,' this was it.
Messiah was coming off back-to-back 8-0 wins against fellow conference foes Alvernia University and Arcadia University, and would be heading into one of the most famous matchups in all of NCAA Division III athletics in the upcoming weekend. Albright, meanwhile, had lost five of their last six games heading into Wednesday's tilt, stirring near the bottom of the league standings.
It was precisely the kind of opponent the Lions were hoping Messiah would overlook.
Things didn't work out exactly as planned for Albright, however, as Messiah made a first-half goal stand up through nearly the entire game, tallying two scores late to pull away from the Lions and notch a 3-0 victory — keeping its conference record unblemished and holding on to the number one spot heading into this weekend's final regular season-game against Elizabethtown College.
“(Albright) Coach (Pat) Stanco knows us well and plays us tough,” said Brad McCarty, Messiah head coach. “They defended us well. I give them a lot of credit.”
It certainly wasn't a cakewalk for Messiah (16-1, 6-0), ranked second in the latest NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 and D3soccer.com Top 25. Playing on the turf at Shirk Stadium, most of the through passes that the Falcons use liberally in their offense sailed, skipped and carried all the way down the field, overshooting the forwards by a wide margin and rolling harmlessly to Lions sophomore keeper Billy Howard or across the end line for a goal kick.
Despite those setbacks, the Falcons got their first good look on net in the 15th minute. Freshman Josh Wood took control of a bouncing ball at the top of the Lions' penalty box, turned quickly and put a low shot directly on goal. Howard, who had come off his line above the goal box, fell to his left and made the save, but the ball rebounded to the right side of the box and was collected by senior Brett Faro. Faro had a brief look at a partially open net, but his quick hard shot sailed just over the crossbar.
After a few more frustrating misconnected passes, Messiah would finally get on the board in the 24th minute of the half. After a Lions' defender cleared the ball back over his own end line to briefly end a Falcon threat, Messiah was awarded the corner from the left side of the field. Sophomore Derek Black stepped over to take the kick, and sent a low lining cross very near to the end line, where a cluster of players waited. Somehow, Wood, who was waiting near the left corner of the goal box, was able to touch the ball across the goal mouth and through all players into the right side of the netting, giving the Falcons the 1-0 lead at the 23:09 mark.
For the rest of the half, however, the Lions effectively shut down the Messiah attack. When the ball was on one wing of the field, the Lions flooded that side of the field with players, often doubling or tripling the man with the ball, while covering any possible outlet passes well. Albright relied on the fact that the turf would make it tough to switch fields efficiently, risking leaving opposite field attackers open for the Falcons in order to congest the field near the ball. The result was an effective limiting of good chances and shots for the Falcons.
With the start of the second half, things seemed to open up somewhat for both teams. Just seven minutes into the half, junior Geoff Pezon blew through the Lions defense all alone down the left side, getting in the box and gaining a partially open shot on goal. However, with all the momentum Pezon was carrying downfield, it was tough to get a good strike, and the ball carried over the crossbar and out of play. Ten minutes later, it was the Lions turn to get one of their best shots on goal, getting open inside the Falcons penalty box on the right side, but putting their shot high over the crossbar as well.
The back-and-forth action continued as the Falcons had the next good chance at goal. Sophomore Derek Black took a pass from the midfield down the right wing and burned past his defender, getting into the penalty box at the top right corner. With Howard coming out of his net to defend the shot, Black sent a low roller just to the left of the keeper, trickling just wide of the post and over the end line harmlessly.
Five minutes later, Albright got what ended up being their final great chance on goal, as they earned a corner kick from the right corner. The ball was sent in, and a Lions attacker was able to rise up and get a clean header off, but this sailed just inches over the crossbar as well.
From that point on for the rest of the half, it was the Falcons who would carry possession, ultimately ending the game early for the Lions. In the 30th minute of the half, Messiah put a shot on goal from inside the penalty box, which Howard was able to save, diving to his left. The ball bounced just five yards away from him, just to the right side of the goal box, and Wood raced in to tap it into the net. However, in the process of getting there, he slipped and fell in the box, and in the process stuck out his hand to break the fall. His hand landed right on the ball, making an obvious, if somewhat out of the ordinary, handball call for the referee.
The Falcons would finally firm up their lead and close out the game with five minutes left in the half. Black again got open down the right wing of the field, and attempted to send an early cross in for Wood, who had beaten his defender and was open at the top of the penalty box running toward goal. The ball sailed too far ahead for Wood, however, and started rolling through the penalty box and toward the left side of the field. Howard had raced out off his line to try and get to the ball, but it carried too much pace, and although Howard chased it all the way to the left border of his penalty box, it rolled out. This left Howard stranded almost 20 yards outside of his goal, and the Falcons capitalized quickly. Junior Nick Thompson caught up to the ball down in the left corner, and quickly sent a cross right into the empty goal box. Senior Brett Faro rushed down from the top of the box and nailed his wide-open header into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Messiah added its final insurance goal just two minutes later. Pezon sent a through ball to Wood at the top left of the box. Wood took the pass and cut quickly back to his right and the center of the box. He sent a quick low shot on goal, but Howard dove low and got a piece of it. It wasn't enough, however, as the ball kicked up over his body and high into the back of the net, giving Wood his seventh goal in the squad's last three games.
“We played fine, but they made it difficult for us,” McCarty said. “Still, it was very important to get the shutout, and it was good to get those last two goals there at the end.”
Messiah hopes to end its regular season in style on Saturday night at Ira R. Herr Field against perennial rival Elizabethtown College. Elizabethtown is coming off of a big 1-0 win against Widener, and will be looking to hold on to second place in the Commonwealth Conference. Messiah, meanwhile, is hoping to finish their conference schedule undefeated and continue their roll into playoff time. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Elizabethtown.
