Box Score
Grantham, PA – Propelled by their highest scoring output in nearly five years, Messiah College defeated Hood College 9-1 on Tuesday night. Seven different players collected a goal for the Falcons, with not a single score coming unassisted for the hosts.
The nine goals scored by Messiah is their largest output since Oct. 24, 2007 when they defeated Lycoming College by the same score. The last time Messiah scored more than nine goals in a single game was on Oct. 13, 2004 when they ran over Juniata College 11-0.
On Tuesday, Messiah exploded in the first half to take a commanding 5-0 lead. Two of the game's first three goals came off the foot of junior
Sheldon Myer—his second and third goals of the season. His first on the night broke the scoreless tie in the 13th minute as he followed up a blocked shot from teammate
Mike Kovach.
Six minutes later, sophomore
Jack Thompson put Messiah up 2-0 by way of a one-touch shot off a cross from
Joshua Wood.
Up 2-0 and in command, Messiah broke the game open with two more goals in an incredible span of just 32 seconds. With 17:52 remaining in the half, Myer again followed up a missed shot to score his second goal on the night. The opportunity came after sophomore
Jeremy Payne saw his header (off a corner kick) deflect off the cross bar. Myer followed suit with his own header for the score.
Thirty-two seconds later, senior
JP Fulton punched in a goal from just four yards out near the right post off a cross by Payne.
Messiah collected their fifth and final goal of the half in the 42nd minute, as freshman
Danny Rowe picked up his second goal of the year with a hard strike from just inside the 18-yard line off an assist from
Dan Squire.
In the second half, Messiah collected another four goals as Wood,
Jack Thompson,
Benji Kennel, and
Bryant Myer found the back of the net. The last two goals—scored by Kennel and Myer—were headed into the goal. The goal by
Bryant Myer was the second header on the play, as
Nathan Eagan headed a
Dan Squire cross from the left side back to the right side where Myer punched it in.
As impressive as those goals were, the most dynamic score on the night may have been by Thompson in the 61st minute. His shot came from near the end line the left side, a one-touch strike from a seemingly impossible angle to sneak between the post and Hood keeper Ryan Deuber. The goal gave Messiah a 7-1 lead at the time, as Thompson netted his sixth goal on the season.
In total, Messiah outshot Hood 35-4, taking 11 corner kicks to Hood's two. Deuber collected eight saves for the Blazers.
Playing hard throughout the contest, the Blazers (3-5-2) earn a goal in the 52nd minute to avoid the shutout. Attacking up the field against the run of play, Eric Diehl pushed his possession towards the left corner of the 18-yard line before firing a shot across the ground to the far post. The ball went just past the dive of
Jake Berry to sneak in the net.
With the win, Messiah moves to 12-0-1 on the season. Ranked No. 2 in the most recent NSCAA Top 25 Poll, the Falcons are now 4-0 in the Commonwealth and will next play on Saturday, Oct. 13, when they travel to Lebanon Valley College for a 3:00 game.
MSOC: Falcons Score Nine vs. Hood Gallery
