XML Box Score Grantham, PA – In a battle of two unbeaten, national powerhouse programs, No. 1 Messiah College scored three times to defeat No. 10 Montclair State on a rain-soaked Saturday evening on Shoemaker Field. The Falcons received two goals from
Joshua Wood as both teams battled against steady rainfall, wet grass, and even a few puddles.
With the win, Messiah moves to 8-0 while Montclair falls to 7-1.
(Note: Messiah entered the game also ranked No. 1 in the D3Soccer.com Top 25; Montclair was ranked No. 3 overall.)
Jeremy Payne opened the scoring for Messiah after exactly nine minutes of play.
Mike Kovach gathered a long cross from the midfield and played the ball back to the net from the right side, with Payne leaping from the middle of the box to head the ball inside the left post. The score set off a loud cheer from the Falcons' fans that were standing in the rain, with Payne diving head first into a celebratory slide near the sideline.
Wood added the first of his tallies a few minutes later after some brilliant passing from his teammates. Payne started the action with an attack into the left side of the midfield, slotting a ball to Myer on his run to the top of the 18-yard line. Myer then squared to the right and touched forward before dropping a short pass through the Red Hawks' defense to Wood. The senior found himself with an open look at Kevin Lynch and the goal, firing over the keeper to double the Messiah lead.
Down 2-0, Montclair seemed to settle into the game—and the wet field—and began to create opportunities up the field. Lucas Terci came close to netting a goal in the 23rd minute off a serve from Ryan Morris, but saw his header near the right post go just wide of net. Moments later, Dan Mendoza found himself alone and attacking into the Falcons' box on the right side, only to have
Matt Kyne recover and tackle the ball away as a shot was about to be taken.
The game remained end-to-end for the remainder of the first-half, with Wood narrowly missing a third goal in the 27th minute and
Brandon West grabbing a save on a header by Terci in the 33rd minute.
After the intermission, the Falcons wouldn't wait long before creating another score for Wood. This time,
Jack Thompson was played square across the top of the 18 before finding Wood on a slot to the right side. A quick strike by Wood went in-between a defender and Lynch—with Lynch deflecting the ball—and inside the far post for a 3-0 advantage.
Despite falling further behind, the Red Hawks kept their fight and scored less than two minutes later on a header by Morris. He was played on a short serve from Terci from the right corner and tucked his shot inside the near post before West had time to react.
Montclair came close to scoring other goals in the 62nd and 66th minutes, respectively, only to see West make leaping grabs in front of the net each time.
West finished with four saves for the Falcons as Messiah limited the No. 7-ranked scoring offense to just nine total shots—a season-low for a Red Hawks' team that was also averaging 4.0 goals per game.
Messiah launched 24 shots of their own with Lynch making three saves.
With the win, Messiah also moves to 5-0 all-time against Montclair, including recent wins in the 2007, 2008, and 2010 NCAA Tournaments.
The Falcons will next play at York College on Tuesday, Sept. 24, in another highly anticipated match-up of two long-time rivals.
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