Grantham, PA – Messiah College men's soccer scored four unanswered goals in the final 30 minutes of play to come from behind and win 4-2 over Lebanon Valley on Tuesday night. Will Cochran tallied the first and final goal for the Falcons as they also moved to 2-0 in the MAC Commonwealth.

The Falcons' deficit was almost as stunning as their comeback considering the Dutchmen played from start to finish with a defensive mindset. Nevertheless, the visitors made good on their only two shots on goal, the first putting them up 1-0 in the 37th minute. The opportunity was very much against the run of play when Ian McGinnis and Ethan Abdalla played a quick give-and-go through the midfield to get behind the Falcons' back line. McGinnis took the slot all the way into the box and pushed a shot on the ground past closing goalkeeper Jonathan Weaver.
 
The Dutchmen tallied again early in the second-half and, like their first goal, it came in a sudden moment. This time Tyler Syke lost possession near the left corner of the 18, but Alex Detweiler walked onto possession five yards behind. Detweiler used the space to touch forward and loft a shot to the far post, and it fooled Weaver in the air as it tucked inside the back corner.
 
As said, the deficit was startling considering the Falcons were on their way to outshooting the Dutchmen 34-6. Nevertheless, they continued to press forward and soon their chances turned into goals.
 
With just under 30 minutes to play the Falcons had a flurry of shots blocked inside the six, and a final offering by Jacob Bender hit off the crossbar. Moments later, they finally broke through.
 
The first tally was the product of another blocked shot, this one by Danny Rowe from atop the six-yard line. The ball bounded off the defense and straight back where Will Cochran ran on for a hard strike into the net.
 
The goal swung momentum to the Falcons, and they soon found a huge equalizer in the 71st minute. Bryant Myer set it up with a patient and perfect cross from the left side to the far side of the box. There, Jacob Bender ran on for a volley hit past Avery and into the goal.
 
Now tied, Messiah continued to press forward even more and less than six minutes later they went ahead. David Alejos collected the helper after a brilliant turn on the left side. He went all the way to the post before serving across the goal to the far side. His pass overlapped two Falcons but Colby Thomas ran into a hard strike for the go-ahead score.
 
The assist was a team-leading fifth for Alejos.
 
The lost lead seemed to deflate the Dutchmen, and they never put together a solid counter. With just over a minute to play Messiah put an exclamation point on the comeback, with Will Cochran collecting his second goal of the game off a feed from Nick West.
 
As mentioned, the Falcons finished with a 34-6 edge in shots, and they also dominated corner kick chances, 15-2. Keeper Cam Avery was a standout for Lebanon Valley (4-7-0), as he collected seven saves, including a few diving stops on close shots.
 
Now 7-3-1, the Falcons will take a break from conference play and host Washington and Lee University on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.