Messiah University

Grantham, PA – Benji Kennel tallied twice and Messiah College scored three second-half goals to shutout Lebanon Valley 4-0 in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal. The win pushed the Falcons to 14-4-1 and, more importantly, into the conference championship on Saturday at top-seeded Lycoming. Colby Thomas and Austin Jeffrey also both tallied in the win.
 
Similar to their first meeting this season, Messiah dominated territory and constantly earned back possession from the Dutchmen. However, unlike that first match, Messiah did not go down 2-0 before rallying for a win. Instead, they got a lead in the 22nd minute when Danny Rowe made a great turn in the midfield and put a perfect ball over the 18. Kennel ran on the pass and beat keeper Cam Avery for a sharp chip over his slide and into the net.
 
Messiah outshot the Dutchmen 18-1 in the first-half, and they could have had more than Kennel's score if not for a few solid saves from Avery and a shot from Nick West that hit the underside of the crossbar.
 
The Falcons were clinging to their 1-0 lead into the second-half when an ill-advised shove (and yellow card) by Jake Herron set up a Messiah penalty kick. Kennel knocked it through for his second multi-goal game of the season and the Falcons had a small amount of breathing room.
 
In the 73rd minute they put the game out of reach with a third goal, this one from Colby Thomas. Off a corner serve the ball was batted around in box before landing at the feet of Zack Bosshard, and he quickly played to the right side for a shot from Thomas. The ball traveled to the far post for his fourth tally of the season.
 
Austin Jeffrey finished the scoring with his first goal of the season in the 88th minute off a feed from Kirby Robbins.
 
Messiah finished with a 27-3 edge in shots, and Connor Bell was tested just once.
 
The Falcons will now face Lycoming in the conference tournament for a third-straight season. They dropped a penalty kick decision to the Warriors in 2013 and they defeated them in the championship game last season.
 
Game time for Saturday is still to be finalized.