Grantham, PA – No. 9 Messiah College used a goal in each half to defeat Hood College Tuesday evening. Kirby Robbins tallied the first-half goal, while Jacob Bender added a goal by way of a penalty kick with three minutes to play to guide the Falcons to victory.
The win moved the Falcons to 14-0-3 on the season, and 7-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. The Blazers fell to 10-5-1, and 3-3-1 in conference play.

The Falcons offense was aggressive from the opening kick-off, as they gained and maintained possession early and often. Despite the pressure from Messiah's offense, they were unable to get a great look at the net until the 22nd minute.

Messiah earned their first corner of the night in the 22nd minute. Jacob Bender sent the corner into the box, where his brother Josh Bender was there to connect on their header. However the ball did not have a lot of speed on it, as it bounced safely to keeper Danny Castillo.

After a vicious slide by the Blazers' Hirvin Polanco on Colby Thomas, Messiah was awarded a free kick from 365 yards out. Jacob Bender took the free kick, and played the ball to Kirby Robbins just outside the box. Robbins immediately played it back to Bender, who then fed it back to Robbins on a run toward the goal. Robbins received the pass, hesitated and touched right into the box, then fired a shot that snuck past keeper Danny Castillo and inside the left post on the ground to give the Falcons the lead.

Only two minutes later, the Falcons appeared to have another goal when they were awarded another free kick from 25 yards out. Jacob Bender stepped up to take the kick, and drilled a shot that appeared to be heading for the net, but bounced off the right post before Castillo could even react. Unfortunately for the Falcons, the ball dribbled away and they were unable to convert.

Messiah continued to hold possession throughout the remainder of the half, but failed to capitalize as they took a 1-0 lead in the half.

The second-half began with the Falcons continuing to pressure the Blazers' defense, but still could not connect on their second goal. In the 51st minute, Jacob Bender's corner kick was sent towards the near post. Cooper Robbins came running in and got a head on the ball, but Castillo made a quick reaction and punched the ball to safety.

Eleven minutes later, David Alejos received a deep pass and began to attack along the left side. Alejos took a few touches, hesitated and sprinted by his defender. He advanced towards the left edge of the box and ripped a shot with his right foot that sailed over the hands over Castillo, but unfortunately off the crossbar.

With the Blazers still only trailing by one goal, the Blazers earned their first and only corner kick of the night in the 73rd minute. Juliano Pillari played the corner into the center of the box, where Drew Demich was there to put a foot on it, but the shot sailed high over the crossbar.

Finally in the 87th miunte, the Falcons scored the insurance goal. Shay Quintin possessed the ball just inside the penalty box on the right side when an overly-aggressive Blazer defender took down Quintin and drew a whistle from the official. The Falcons earned a penalty-kick, and Jacob Bender stepped up to take it. His penalty kick was drilled into the right side of the net and past Castillo to seal the Falcons' 2-0 victory.

Despite the low scoring affair, Messiah dominated throughout the game. The ball remained in Messiah's possession in their offensive third for the majority of the game, which led to a 23-6 edge in shots on the night.

The defense held strong throughout the night, and continued their long scoreless streak. The Falcon defense has not allowed a goal in the last 575 minutes of play, including a stretch of six-consecutive shutouts. Connor Bell also recorded his ninth shutout of the season with one save on the night.

Messiah returns to action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Glenside, PA to take on Arcadia University in their regular season finale. Kick-off is slated for 3:00 p.m.