Box Score
Reading, PA – Four days after scoring
six goals in their Commonwealth opener at Stevenson University, Messiah College took just 80 seconds to grab a 1-0 lead on the road against rival Alvernia University. A second goal doubled the lead late in the game, as a strong defensive effort carried the Falcons to ninth consecutive win.
Messiah took a quick lead over the Crusaders on Wednesday night, with junior
Joshua Wood striking a goal just 1:20 into the game. His score was the first shot of the game by either team, and came off a hard cross from senior
Logan Thompson near the right end line.
The goal was Wood's fourth on the year.
For the fans in attendance, the goal was sure to be a shocking start considering the
thrilling, 1-0 game these two team played in the regular season in 2011. Nevertheless, Messiah is now 5-0 against Alvernia since their annual contests began in 2009, including a
4-1 victory in last season's Commonwealth Championship.
“Tonight was a hard-fought game,” Messiah assistant coach
Aaron Faro said. “There were opportunities for both teams, and the momentum changed sides throughout the game. One early and one late gave us the win.”
On Wednesday, the process of victory for Messiah was much of the same compared to their first 10 games this season: a relentless offense and a suffocating defense.
Alvernia—second to the Falcons in the Commonwealth in both goals and assists—was held to just seven shots in the loss, with leading scorers Alex and Kyle Martyn (combined 9 goals, 3 assists entering the game) held to just one shot between them. In the Falcons' net, sophomore
Brandon West proved formidable in collecting four saves on those seven shots.
“Brandon stepped up tonight and really made some nice saves,” Faro said of the keeper. “He was the 'man of the match' in many ways for us.”
Meanwhile, the Falcons collected 22 shots against the Crusaders, with their top three scorers—Wood,
Jack Thompson, and
Jeremy Payne— attempting 12 shots between them. The trio had entered the contest with a combined 15 goals and six assists.
With both ends of the field being controlled by Messiah, the tipping point arrived in the game's 82nd minute when sophomore
Jeremy Payne doubled his team's lead. The goal, scored off a set play as the Crusaders' were hurrying to align their defense, resulted from assists by Wood and Thompson. For Thompson, it was his fourth assist in the past two games.
“Both our goals tonight came off of heads-up plays by our guys,” Faro said, noting that neither of the goals came on the run of play. “The ball was quickly moved on the goal by Payne, and it gave us a little control at the end of the game.”
With their offensive output, the Falcons now have 30 goals and a 2.78 goals per game average—both tops in the Commonwealth.
The shutout was also the Falcons' eighth of the season, as they pushed their record to 10-0-1. Ranked No. 3 in the most recent NSCAA Top 25 Poll, their 11-game start matches that of 2011.
The loss drops Alvernia to 6-3-3.
“They were a good team,” Faro said of the Crusaders. “With our last goal coming late, it was a one-goal game for much of the night. We wouldn't be surprised to see them again (in a possible conference postseason match-up).”
Messiah will look forward to their next game, to be played on Saturday, October 6, against Elizabethtown College. The rivalry, considered one of the best in all of NCAA Division III athletics, will be renewed on the Falcons' Shoemaker Field at 7:30 p.m.
