Box Score
Gettysburg, PA — An unfortunate own goal from host Gettysburg College may have initiated a Messiah win Wednesday evening, but it certainly wasn't necessary.
The Falcons erupted for three 'real' goals in the final 45 minutes of play at Clark Field to march to their second shut out win of the season, ruining Gettysburg's home opener to the tune of a 4-0 score.
“This was a good result for us, and it was kind of a tale of two halves,” said Brad McCarty, Messiah head coach. “In the first half, we had a lot of the ball but weren't very dangerous in regards to creating scoring opportunities. In the second half, although we may not have had the ball as much, we were much more dangerous offensively. We're still looking to improve in a lot of areas.”
McCarty's group was given an absolute gift of a goal at the 11:07 mark, as the Gettysburg back line won the ball and attempted to switch fields via a drop pass to sophomore goalkeeper Jamie Hahn.
Hahn casually went to trap the innocuous pass, but didn't get his foot down quickly enough.
The ball trickled past him and into the net, setting off a stunned reaction for both teams.
The Messiah players on the field and on the sideline had little visible reaction, as the early 1-0 lead was — by all accounts — cheap.
“Essentially we didn't score a goal in the first half,” McCarty would later say. “We had plenty to talk about at halftime.”
Despite controlling possession through the majority of the first period — and outshooting Gettysburg (1-4) by a 10-4 difference — Messiah (4-1) came up with only a few quality looks on the Bullets' frame, the best of which came off the foot of freshman Josiah Groff late in the stanza. Groff hit a pair of heavy shots wide of the G'Burg frame in the final two minutes of action, attempts that, if on goal, may have increased the Falcons' 1-0 advantage.
“Our second group really created some scoring chances for us toward the end of the first half,” McCarty said. “I thought they played very well. Josiah had two good looks that he pushed wide, and that was about as dangerous as we were in the entire first half.”
Creating scoring opportunities wouldn't be as arduous in the game's final 45 minutes.
Senior Geoff Pezon scored the first of two beautiful goals just four minutes into the final period, using relentlessness and a deft touch to push the Falcons ahead by a 2-0 count.
After firing a shot from just inside the 18-yard box, Pezon collected ball following a ricochet off a Gettysburg defender. In one fluid motion, the senior juggled the ball and slipped through two Bullets' defenders, volleying it into the net with 49:01 elapsed.
He was only getting started.
In the 82nd minute, Pezon was again brilliant in the offensive third, this time being the secondary beneficiary of another blocked shot. After sophomore Dan Squire ripped an attempt, the ball caromed back to his feet. Squire then slipped it back to Pezon, who was stationed just inside right side of the 18-yard box.
With incredible precision, Pezon curled a shot to the near post, beating a wrong-footed Hahn, who was expecting the shot to go far post.
“You couldn't blame (Hahn),” McCarty said. “Peez had his hips opened up, and I really don't know how he curled it to the near post. It really was a sweet goal.”
From that point on, Messiah rolled. Senior Nick Thompson clanged a header off the crossbar following a corner kick at the 87:39 mark, adding to the family near misses: Early in the second period, younger brother Danny got in and beat Hahn, only to bang his shot off the post.
With just under a minute and a half to play, however, the Thompson name was linked to a goal. Following a Gettysburg foul and restart, the Falcons played a quick ball to Nick Thompson, who began matriculating down the center of the field. He found senior Mark Jeschke on the right side, and Jeschke knew exactly what to do: Taking a touch across his body, the Vienna, Virginia native laced a well-hit shot to the far post, concluding the game's scoring in the process.
Messiah finished with a 23-10 advantage in total shots and a 6-2 disparity in corner kicks on the evening.
“I thought we had some good rhythm in the first half, but weren't very dangerous,” McCarty said. “In the second half, we may have had a bit less rhythm, but we were more dangerous. What do we want? We want both. We want rhythm that creates a lot of dangerous opportunities, and we're not there yet. We're working toward it.”
The Falcons will continue to work toward a complete game away from Shoemaker Field, as the team concludes a season-long four-game road swing at DeSales University on Saturday. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.
