Grantham, PA – No. 4 Messiah College defeated No. 21 Christopher Newport University 2-0 in a tough, physical thriller Sunday evening on Shoemaker Field. Jacob Bender scored the goal in the first-half, with Colby Thomas tallying in the second-half to help Messiah continue their season.
 
The two teams battled back-and-forth throughout the game, which included a lot of extremely physical play from both teams. There were 4 yellow cards and 2 red cards handed out in the second-half of the game, which left the Captains to finish the contest with only nine players.
 
The Falcons secured their spot in the Sectional Semifinal round with their victory tonight and improved their record to 19-0-3. Christopher Newport finished the year with a record of 18-3-1.
 
The majority of the first-half was a clash in the midfield.  Stingy defense led to a limited amount of scoring opportunities for both teams in the opening frames.
 
In the 13th minute the Falcons appeared to have taken the lead, but a foul quickly negated the goal. On a free kick for Messiah along the right side of the end line, Jacob Bender's cross was headed in by Cooper Robbins just outside of the left post. Unfortunately for the Falcons, as the ball crossed the line the referee signaled that Robbins pushed off of his defender, keeping the game scoreless for the time being.
 
Christopher Newport's best opportunity to take the lead came in the 35th minute, when Preston Key played a ball into space for Stephen Durbin. The Falcon defense deflected the initial pass away, but the ball bounced back to Durbin, who sent a shot toward the goal but Connor Bell dove to the ground and made the save.
 
Just a minute after the Captains threatened, the Falcons broke through and jumped ahead. David Alejos took the ball on the right sideline and dribbled past his defender toward the end line. He then played a cross into the center of the box to Jacob Bender, who settled it and ripped a shot that snuck under the hands of Zach Pedini and inside the left post to put Messiah ahead 1-0.
 
Despite more hard-nosed defense from the two teams, the teams entered the break with the score still in favor of the Falcons.
 
The second-half is when the game really became heated despite the chilly temperatures, with the tough defense becoming over-aggressive in many instances.
 
In the 53rd minute of play, Sammy Blosser was assessed a yellow card on a late tackle along the right sideline. 15 minutes later, he was whistled for yet another hard tackle and was given his second yellow of the night, resulting in him being disqualified from the game, which would only be the beginning of the rough play from both teams.
 
Despite now being down a man, the Captains kept attacking and appeared poise to even the game in the 78th minute. Jimmy Grace weaved through multiple Falcon defenders and into the box when Dakota Rosenberg came sliding in late, which led to a yellow card for Rosenberg and a penalty kick for Christopher Newport.
 
Grace stepped up to take the penalty kick, and sent the shot on the ground toward the right post. Connor Bell dove to his left and saved the free opportunity with his heels, but the ball bounced back to Grace in the center of the box. Grace jumped in the air and headed it back toward the right corner, but Bell dove to make yet another incredible save to hold the Falcons' lead.
 
The game continued to get chippy in the 82nd minute when a late slide resulted in another foul when Nick West almost attempted to sneak past the Captain backline. Bobby Seifert voiced his displeasure with the call and was given a red card, now leaving Christopher Newport with only nine players on the field.
 
A minute later, the Falcons tacked on an insurance goal to extend their lead to two. West began to penetrate on the left slide, when he slid the ball ahead to Kirby Robbins who now had a one-on-one with Pedini charging toward the top of the box. Robbins touched to a wide open Thomas on his right, who drilled it into the empty net to secure the victory for the Falcons.
 
Messiah's defense held strong throughout the night, posting their 15th shutout on the year and second in as many nights. The Captains outshot the Falcons on the evening, gaining a 13-11 advantage in that category. It was only the second time Messiah has not outshot their opponent, but the strong defense rose to the occasion to secure their spot in the Sectional Semifinals.
 
Messiah will return this action this weekend in search of their first Final Four appearance since winning the national championship in 2013. The Falcons will face Calvin College in the Sectional Semifinals this weekend; however location and time of the game have not been announced yet.