Owings Mills, Md. – Jacob Bender tallied two goals, one in the 19th minute and one in the 86th minute to secure the victory for No. 9 Messiah College over Stevenson University Wednesday night. This marked the first multi-goal game of Bender's career, and his first time scoring since the Falcons' 4-0 win at Washington and Lee earlier this month..

The win kept Messiah undefeated on the year and pushed their record to 12-0-3 and 5-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. Stevenson fell to 3-10-3 and 2-3 in conference play.

The opening minutes consisted of the Falcons offense knocking on the door, but unable to take an early lead. One of their best chances came in the 15th minute when Justin Bratigaum played the ball square to Jacob Bender, who immediately played the ball down the right sideline for Colby Thomas. After Bratigaum played the ball to Bender, he went sprinting down the center of the field and Thomas found him on the edge of the six behind the Mustangs defense. Bratigaum slid to get a foot on the ball, but his shot sailed high overtop the crossbar.

Four minutes later, Messiah connected and jumped ahead of Stevenson. Thomas possessed the ball in the Falcons' third along the right side and attacked towards the corner of the box. He turned and played the ball back to Jacob Bender, who touched to his left to avoid a defender and ripped a shot from 25 yards out. His left-footed shot bent inside the post on the right side to put the Falcons ahead.

Messiah had several opportunities to build their lead in the remainder of the first-half, but failed to do so. In the 32nd minute, Shay Quintin played a square ball to Jacob Bender in the center of the field 40 yards out. Bender found Will Cochran ahead of him, who quickly dropped it off for Bender on the give-and-go. He took a touch and had a shot similar to his goal earlier in the game, but this time kicked it straight to Michael Tringali for the easy save. The teams would play evenly the rest of the half and the score stayed 1-0 entering the break.

The second-half proved to be much of the same for the Falcons, as there were several opportunities for Messiah to extend their lead but were unable to.

After a Nick West throw-in 12 minutes into the half, the ball was played back to West along the left sideline. He found Kirby Robbins on the edge of the box, and his shot appeared to be heading for goal, but a diving save by Tringali kept the Falcons off the board.

In the 73rd miunte, the Falcons even saw the ball go into back of the net but still their lead remained at one. After a corner kick was deflected out by the Mustangs, the ball was played back to Zeb Cross on the left side. Cross played a ball in the air to the center of the box, where Zack Bosshard was there to head it into the net; however the linesman ruled Bosshard offside, which negated the goal.

The Mustangs had an opportunity to even the score in the 80th minute following a Samuel Ruiz Plaza foul. A favorable call for the Mustangs gave them a free kick just outside the right edge of the box. The free kick was sent into the box, but Aleem Mirza's header sailed high and to squander the only true threat from the Stevenson attack on the night.

Finally in the 86th minute, Jacob Bender gave the Falcons the breathing room they had been searching for. After Bratigaum stole possession in the middle of the field, the ball rolled to the feet of David Alejos, who quickly found Jacob Bender approximately 30 yards out. Bender turned to his left and took two touches to his left before ripping a shot that snuck inside the top left corner of the goal to put Messiah on top 2-0 for good.

Even though the score was close, the Falcons dominated possession and field throughout the contest. Messiah outshot the Mustangs 22-2, but failed to connect on their second goal until late in the game. The defense also held strong throughout the night, which led to their ninth shutout.

The Falcons return to action Saturday night when they host Widener University on Shoemaker Field. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.