Box Score
By Matt McDermott, GoMessiah.com student manager
Chester, PA — Throughout the entire season, Messiah's goal was to win the 2011 MAC Championship.
During the year, great things happened for head coach Geoff Weisenborn and company to reach their goal — like a program-record nine-game winning streak and a number two seed in the conference tournament.
One quarter into Saturday's MAC Championship at rival Widener University, the Falcons held a 2-0 lead and were that much closer to their goal.
But the second quarter halted the team's reach.
Widener (15-2) turned on the burners, scoring seven goals over a 12-minute span in the second quarter alone, stunning Messiah and ultimately leading to an 11-6 win.
Messiah (12-5) won the first quarter, causing the Pride to turn the ball over seven times and perfectly executing nine clear opportunities. The result was two goals on six shots by the Falcons' offense.
Senior Phil Wendt started off the day with 5:10 left to play, scoring his first of two goals in unassisted fashion. Sophomore Heath Kupecky added his 23rd goal of the season with 2:31 to play off a Hayden Geating assist, and it appeared Messiah had overcome any nerves involved with competing on the biggest stage.
But that was when the Pride went off, tying the game up in a 21-second span, and never looking back. Widener's Andrew Janusz and JJ Hoeffler went back-to-back at the 13:31 and 13:10 marks, each finishing the day with multiple goals.
“(Widener) scored two so quick to tie it up,” senior Eric Petters said. “We knew it was a tie game, yet we just could not get a possession to stop the bleeding, I guess. The best way I can say it is that those seven (goals) just happened really quickly, and they rode that momentum until the end of the half.”
The Pride finished the initial half scoring seven straight goals, virtuously taking the wind out of the Falcons' wings.
For Messiah to win its first conference title since 2004, the Falcons would have to overcome their largest halftime deficit of the season.
“They scored a lot of unsettled goals and we didn't see the ball a lot,” Petters said. “The second half still felt like we were in the game, but we just had to take it one possession at a time.”
They would get as close as three goals.
Sophomores Zac Smith and Kevan Schellenburg each scored in the third quarter but Messiah was unable to keep its momentum going. Widener's Josh Fox and Robert Clemens matched Smith and Schellenburg's markers at the 13:32 and 12:48 marks in the fourth quarter, halting Messiah's offense and potential comeback bid.
Messiah ends the season with an impressive six players scoring 20 or more goals, the most amount of 20-plus scorers in the conference, and leading the league in offense (goals, groundballs and shots).
Saturday marked Widener's 13th MAC Championship overall. Messiah was making its first appearance in the MAC title game since the 2008 season, when the Falcons dropped a 6-10 decision to the Pride.
“It is very hard right now because we fell short,” Petters said. “But we have given absolutely everything we have to this program and this team, physically, mentally and emotionally. I think at the end of the day, because we left it all out there, you can't be too disappointed. As for next year, obviously some shoes need to be filled, but I think guys will step up and for the most part the pieces are in place to make another run.”
