Box Score
San Antonio, TX — Messiah may have been competing in the NCAA Division III National Semi-Finals for the 12th time in program history Friday afternoon, but the team wasn't without its share of newbie moments at San Antonio's Blossom Athletic Complex.
Shortly before the start of the day's opening contest against the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Messiah's coaching staff noticed the absence of a fairly important piece of equipment in the team travel bags:
There were no game socks.
The slight snafu failed to throw a wrench in Messiah's grand plan, however, as the Falcons used a pair of early goals and an eruption of counter-attacks late to hand Wisconsin-Oshkosh a 4-1 defeat, advancing to face Lynchburg College in Saturday's NCAA Division III National Championship.
“I don't think we've ever forgotten our socks before,” second-year head and longtime assistant coach Brad McCarty said. “We had to send (assistant coach) Aaron Faro to go buy 30 pairs of white socks at a soccer store nearby. They weren't open at the time, but some of the NCAA people helped us out and we were able to take care of things.”
If Friday's game was any indication, new leggings may be the new trend: After staving off an initial surge from UW-Oshkosh (20-1-3), the Falcons nearly doubled the total amount of goals allowed by the Titans in a single game – scoring four times against a team that entered the day giving up just five scores on the entire season.
“I think Messiah somewhat proved what they're hyped up to be,” said Wisconsin-Oshkosh head coach Wyste Molenaar. “They're breakable, but they're tough to break. Are we happy with a loss? No. But as I told our guys, if we lose to a team that plays better than us on a given day, so be it. They're a good side. There's no shame in losing to a very good soccer team.”
Messiah (22-1) was fortunate not to be down a goal in the opening moments, as Molenaar's club stepped on the field with inspired play. A two-on-one opportunity in the game's 15th minute was broken up at the last possible second, when junior Tom Renko raced in and slide-tackled the ball away from an unmarked Devon Prideaux, who was primed to blast the ball into an open net following a square pass in front of the Falcons' cage.
The Falcons settled in just moments later, however, earning the team's first corner kick of the day at the 19:35 mark. After senior Geoff Pezon's serve was initially cleared just outside the 18-yard box, classmate Jon Burke swung the ball back to Pezon on the right side.
The Blandon, Pa. native cut a defender back to the middle and laced a hard and low shot from a 45 degree angle, his effort stopped by Titans' junior goalkeeper James Pike.
Pike wasn't able to reel in Pezon's effort, however, and the ball squirted back into the field of play. Junior Danny Thompson was there to toe-poke the ball into the back of the net with 19:37 elapsed, beating Pike who was prone on the ground.
Oshkosh nearly tied the game seven minutes later, but another stellar play from the Messiah back line kept the slate clean. Following another Titans' breakaway, sophomore goalkeeper Jake Berry raced off his line to challenge Wisconsin's Tony Starnes.
Starnes was first to the long ball and touched it past Berry, leaving nothing but grass between himself and the tying tally.
As Starnes laced a low shot into the empty frame, junior Jordan Sands sprinted in at the last possible moment, clearing the ball off the end line just inches before the scoreboard could change.
It would prove to be a monumental play.
Maintaining its 1-0 lead, Messiah tacked on an insurance goal just four minutes later, after junior Derek Black got in on the left side of the Titans' 18-yard box. Looking for a cross, Black found Danny Thompson at the near post, who headed the ball across the goal mouth with a backward flick. Lee was there to head the ball into the back of the net at the far post, closing in from his winger position to beat Pike with placement and pace at the 30:38 mark.
“(Sands' defensive save) was the key moment,” Molenaar said. “We get that goal, it's a completely different game.”
Wisconsin-Oshkosh put weight to that sentiment less than two minutes after Lee's goal, connecting for their first score with 32:22 elapsed. The Titans' Tim Stadler collected a loose ball some 10 yards outside Messiah's 18-yard box and ripped an absolute liner directly to Berry, but the velocity was too much: The shot caromed off Berry's chest and to the right foot of UW-Oshkosh's Ryan Hanna, who tapped in the point-blank rebound to cut the Messiah lead in half.
“It should have been 2-2 at the half,” McCarty said. “We were fortunate it wasn't 3-2, Oshkosh. There is a reason that Oshkosh has the (win-loss) record that they do. They're very talented. I thought it was going to be an end-to-end game, and I thought it was going to be a game of two teams which play very similar styles. When we scored the first goal, (Faro) leaned over to me and said, 'That's not going to be the last goal scored in this game.'”
As frenetic as the first half proved to be, the second period was much more tame. Play settled in the midfield for much of the half, with both teams' defenses eating up crosses and dangerous serves into their respective 18-yard boxes.
Sands may have had the best chance for either club midway through the stanza, when he fired a left-footed rip from 28 yards away – his curving knuckle ball sailing just wide of the left post with 77:50 elapsed.
As play continued, however, the merciless sun and warm temperatures caught up to the Titans. Several players cramped up and had to be helped off the field, including senior starting center back Jack Borski.
“This (climate) is a lot different from the 20 degrees and snow that we came from,” Molenaar said. “It's not an excuse by any means, but the weather certainly played a role for us today.”
And as the Titans struggled with the heat while aggressively pushing forward for a potential equalizer, Messiah stung the designated visitors with a pair of counter-attacks. With less than four minutes to play, a leak out from Danny Thompson eventually netted Messiah's fourth and final corner kick of the afternoon. Pezon's serve went all the way across the field to junior Kent Ramirez, who flicked the ball back into the box.
Senior Nick Thompson was there, blasting a six-yard rocket into the meat of the net for a 3-1 lead at 86:34.
A little over a minute later, it happened again.
With UW-Oshkosh in desperation mode, the Falcons' back line cleared the ball up the middle of the field, where Danny Thompson sent a looping ball to Pezon, who got behind the Titans' final defender. As Pike came off his line to challenge, Pezon deftly touched the ball around him and calmly slotted a shot into the open net, finalizing the scoring with just 2:12 to play.
“(A final score of) 4-1 isn't fair to (UW-Oshkosh),” McCarty said. “They had a lot of opportunities. For us to get a couple counter goals at the end isn't fair to the quality of team they are and the quality of soccer with which they played.”
Danny Thompson added to his growing NCAA post-season resume, scoring one goal and assisting on two others. Pezon carded a similar stat line, while taking five of the team's 18 total shots on the day.
“I thought there were times that we played well today,” McCarty said. “But when you play better competition, small mistakes become big mistakes. Against an average opponent, when we give a ball away we just win it back. Against Oshkosh, when we gave the ball away they made us pay a price. They were able to possess, and they were dangerous.”
As Molenaar and members of the UW-Oshkosh team wondered what things would have been like had Renko and Sands not made such phenomenal defensive plays in the first half, McCarty said those plays could have been – and should have been – made by anyone wearing a white jersey.
“I think (those two plays) had more to do with our players' willingness to continue to compete and not give up on a play, and our fitness level,” he said. “I didn't think (Oshkosh) was going to get tired in the second half, but they did. They played with a lot of depth, but I think our depth was still the difference.”
Danny Thompson agreed.
“I think the heat was a little bit of a factor for us, but moreso in the first half than the second,” he said. “Our depth was a huge factor on a day like this. Our second group was huge. They moved the ball and wore them out, and when the starters came back in late in the game, it was tough for them. A lot of credit goes to our second group for picking us up.”
Messiah now advances to the NCAA Division III National Championship for the eighth time in program history, and the eighth time in the last 11 years. The Falcons will face Lynchburg College (20-4-1), which defeated Bowdoin College by a 2-1 score in overtime Friday.
“At this point in the season, it doesn't matter who you play,” McCarty said before he knew the outcome of Friday's second contest. “If you've advanced to this level, you're a great team. We've got from now until tomorrow to rest and prepare.”
Game time for Saturday's title match is set for 1 p.m. CST.
