Grantham, PA - The shot total kept rising, but score stayed the same-- that is, until the second-half.
Zeb Cross tallied twice and
Nick West collected three assists as top-seeded Messiah College scored four goals after the break to fly past Arcadia University in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal. The Falcons will host No. 2-seeded Lebanon Valley College on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The Falcons' onslaught began in the 52nd minute when
Kirby Robbins bounced through a header from the six-yard line. The play started from the midfield when
Nick West led
Colby Thomas into the right side of the box. With some space in front of him Thomas lofted a serve to the middle of the box where Robbins leaped for the shot; his header when down and off the stab of keeper Chris Watson to break the stalemate.
The goal came on Messiah's 26th shot of the night and, up until that point Watson had made nine saves and Messiah had hit the post twice.
Messiah's 1-0 lead felt huge at the time, but they doubled it less than two minutes later when Bender sent one past Watson from atop the 18-yard line.
Nick West leaped to steal possession in the box and set-up Bender atop the box. He took the flick and had plenty of time to set his feet for a clear look at the goal. The score was no doubt satisfying as he had hit the post earlier in the half when it was still scoreless.
The tallies for Robbins and Bender were their 11th and 10th of the season, respectively.
Messiah's hold on the game remained deep into the frame when they eventually put it away. The third goal came in the 71st minute when
Nick West ran down a loose ball in the box and pushed it to the left post. He then turned and sent a sharp serve to the middle to
Zeb Cross for the redirection to the center of the net. The Falcons were just a bit fortunate on the play as an Arcadia defender remained down from a collision seconds beforehand, with Cross able to get unmarked near the goal. Nevertheless the 3-0 score sealed the game, even as Cross tallied once again four minutes later. This time, it was
Will Cochran who turned his defender at the top of the box and then slipped West to the net for a quick shot past Watson.
Messiah finished with a 39-4 edge in shots and the Knights managed to get just a single look on frame. The disparity was the product of the Falcons' stronghold on possession and territory for the entire game, but it wasn't until the Falcons put 12 of their 17 shots of the second-half on frame that they were able to secure the win.
As mentioned, the Falcons will now host Lebanon Valley College on Saturday at 7:30 in the conference title game. Messiah defeated the Dutchmen more than a month ago on the road by the score of 1-0.
