By Travis Galaska, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA — An unseasonably warm November afternoon yielded some seasonal results at Shoemaker Field Sunday, as Messiah handed the College at Brockport a 3-1 defeat in NCAA Second Round play, advancing to the sectional round of the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight season.
Messiah (20-1) moves on to face Johns Hopkins University in next weekend's NCAA Sectionals, facing the Blue Jays at a time and place yet to be announced by the NCAA.
“We're pleased with the win,” said Brad McCarty, Messiah head coach. “Getting two early goals alleviated some pressure, and Brockport proved that we needed them. They were a scrappy group that played us tough.”
It didn't take long for McCarty's squad to shake off any rust after getting extra downtime as a result of earning a first-round bye, as the hosts dominated the majority of possession early, leading to an eventual 20-8 disparity in total shots and 11-1 difference in corner kicks over Brockport (10-6-4).
That dominance resulted in the game's first score just eight minutes in, as sophomore Danny Thompson scored his fifth goal of the season off an assist from freshman Josh Wood.
After dribbling around a pair of Golden Eagles' defenders on the left side of the penalty box, Wood was able to advance the ball to the endline, sending a low rolling cross intended for junior Geoff Pezon at the near post.
Pezon came rushing on to make an attempt at the ball, but it was just out of reach of his foot and continued rolling through the box. Brockport junior goalkeeper Joe Marino came off his line with a dive toward the ball, but it went just past his hands and continued even further on to the top center of the goal box. Finally the ball arrived on the feet of a wide open Danny Thompson, who swiftly sent a shot toward the wide open goal mouth.
Thompson didn't miss, and the Falcons scorched the netting early for a 1-0 lead, one which they would hold onto for the rest of the afternoon.
After the early goal, Messiah only continued to press for chances, getting their next best look on a great individual effort in the 17th minute.
Senior defender Jevon Gondwe took hold of the ball all the way in the Messiah defensive zone at his right back position. Taking a few touches forward, Gondwe surveyed the midfield looking for a lane to pass through. Seeing nothing open, he continued dribbling downfield, crossing the midfield stripe and moving further and further down the right wing of the field. The Golden Eagles seemed content to take away all of Gondwe's passing options, staying back until Gondwe got all the way into the offensive third for the Falcons.
At that point, two Eagles' defenders stepped in from opposite sides to pressure his advance, but Gondwe took a quick dribble forward, splitting the two defensemen and getting inside the right side of the penalty box all alone. He continued his dribble toward goal, until he was just six yards extended from the goal box on the right side.
Gondwe sent a low rolling shot headed toward the far post, but it skittered just wide of the frame and out of bounds for the goal kick
Just four minutes later, junior Nick Thompson nearly extended the Messiah lead after taking a blast from 20 yards out off of a Pezon heel flick at the top center of the penalty box. Thompson's rip went straight on the center of the goal and right to the chest of Marino, who was able to make the save to hold the score at 1-0.
Finally, after more good team play and possession, the Falcons were able to earn a corner kick in the 33rd minute that would net the decisive second goal on the afternoon.
Sophomore Trevor Lee stole possession along the right wing at midfield off an errant Golden Eagles pass, and slid a short pass to freshman JP Fulton. Lee then sprinted down the wing, getting the return chip from Fulton in the right corner. Lee sent in a great cross high to the near post, where freshman Dan Squire was waiting unmarked and sent a brilliant header to the right upper 90 of the frame, but Marino used his great reflexes and made an intense diving save to his right to parry the ball just over the crossbar.
It was on the resulting corner kick that the Falcons flexed their set-piece” muscle for the first time of the evening, however, as Pezon sent a the cross from the right corner. That effort was headed on the near post, but the ball sailed into the center of the penalty box — and into danger for Brockport.
Senior defender Trey Overholt was ready and waiting, and sent a great chip-header across the box and to the far post. The ball sailed just out of the reach of Marino and to the near post, where a Golden Eagles defender tried desperately to clear the ball over the line, but the ball had already crossed the goal line and into the netting to double the Falcon lead to 2-0 going into halftime.
At the break, it was clearly the Falcons who were dominating on the stat sheet, not only leading 2-0 but outshooting Brockport 12-3 and gaining four corner kick opportunities to the Golden Eagles' none. With Messiah having been a tremendous second-half team this season, it looked like easy pickings for the Falcons to move on to the sectional round.
But this was not a Brockport team used to rolling over for tough opponents. Most recently, the Golden Eagles had beaten a top-quality Ohio Northern University squad in the first round, netting a gutty 5-3 PK win — following a 1-1, double-overtime draw — to seal their trip to Grantham.
That gutsiness showed up in the 56th minute of Sunday's affair, as Brockport would cut the lead back down to one.
With the Golden Eagles playing strong defense in their own backfield, the Falcons attack began to sputter slightly, and Brockport used the momentary lapse to mount a quick counter-attack.
After shutting down Messiah's pressure yet again, the ball was sent toward midfield for Eagles' senior forward Brad Lefort. Lefort sent a great though ball all the way downfield, splitting the Messiah center backs and ending up right on the feet of fellow senior forward Steve Abgarian.
Abgarian got to the top center of the Falcon penalty box, and sent a low, hard shot just to senior keeper Jared Clugston's right, squeaking the ball just inside the left post, narrowing the lead to 2-1 for the Falcons and sending the decent-sized Brockport crowd back into a frenzy.
“They have a lot of talent on that squad,” McCarty said. “That 16 (Abgarian) is a really great player. It was a little disappointing to give up that goal.”
Messiah nearly pulled away just eight minutes later on another corner kick, however, as Pezon sent his kick from the right corner across the width of the box. Nick Thompson rose up and met the ball perfectly in midair with an absolutely ridiculous bicycle kick, but his rocket sailed straight on goal and to the waiting arms of Marino for his seventh save on the evening.
For the rest of the half, the Golden Eagles continued to frustrate the Messiah attack, bogging it down in the midfield and intercepting bad passes and misplayed balls. Brockport's best chance off these opportunities came off a free kick from 25 yards out midway through the period, but the ball was sent low through the mess of defenders at the top of the penalty box and into Clugston's arms for on of his four saves on the night.
Finally, with four minutes remaining in the half, the Falcons were able to crack the Golden Eagles' strong defense and pour in an insurance goal, again off of a well-executed set corner kick.
Again, Pezon curled in his cross from the right corner, this time high and soft right to the center of the penalty box. Senior Brett Faro out jumped all others in the box, and sent a strong header racing into the back of the net on the far post, notching his fourth goal of the season with perfect timing:
As the Brockport crowd urged their team to push ahead for the equalizer, Faro's blast was an utter backbreaker.
“To have that two-goal lead in the last five minutes really helped us,” McCarty said. “We were able to create a lot of opportunities tonight, but they were able to block a lot of our shots, and their keeper made some really good saves. But I'm really proud that we were able to score last.”
With the win, Messiah goes forward into the sectional round of the NCAA Championships to face the Johns Hopkins (16-3-3), which defeated Salisbury University 5-3 in penalties after playing to a scoreless tie earlier this afternoon.
The Falcons will host next week's sectional, opening play against Johns Hopkins at 5 p.m. Saturday. The University of Rochester (13-1-3) will then take on Wesleyan University (12-1-5) in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. The winners of Saturday's contests will then meet Sunday at 6 p.m. for the right to advance to the Final Four, taking place in San Antonio, Texas Dec. 4-5.
All games will take place on Shoemaker Field this weekend. Tickets for all NCAA post-season events at Messiah are $6 for adults and $3 for both senior citizens and students with ID. Children ages six and up will also be admitted for $3, while children under the age of six will be admitted free of charge.
Fans can stay on top of all the action at Messiah's official NCAA Tournament website. WVMM will broadcast both Saturday's women's soccer game and the men's game live on 90.7 FM and via streaming audio on the World Wide Web.
