GRANTHAM, Pa. – No. 3 Messiah men's soccer wrapped up an unbeaten conference regular-season this afternoon, winning 4-0 over Stevenson on Shoemaker Field. The win pushed Messiah to 8-0 in the MAC Commonwealth—and also 17-1 overall—in advance of next week's MAC Commonwealth Tournament. Four different Falcons accounted for the goals, including the first career tally by Nicholas Kane.
 
Stevenson fell to 3-12 with the loss.
 
Fast Start and Familiar Faces
The game wasn't eight minutes old before Messiah managed to take a 2-0 lead. In the seventh minute a right-corner serve was knocked down on the near post, and Colby Thomas' quick touch went to Nick West who was a step off the goal line. The fortuitous bounce almost caught West off guard, and he punched it past keeper Jake Brown for the immediate lead.
 
Less than two minutes later Messiah scored again, this time off the foot of Kirby Robbins. Danny Brandt collected an assist on the play thanks to his perfect lead pass into the box, and Robbins' 12th goal on the season made it 2-0.
 
Two Into The Wind
The forecasted storms, which caused the start time to be moved up from 7:30 p.m., slowly started to roll into the area, though just strong winds impacted the play. In the second-half Messiah played against the weather, and they tallied twice more.
 
In the 56' Nick West beat his defender down the left side, and he sent a hard cross into the box that was knocked down by a Mustang defender. The ball came off the turf to Danny Brandt just inside the box, and he quickly chested the ball down and rifled a shot through traffic. The goal was his fourth of the season, and also his third in the past six games.
 
Messiah's fourth and final goal came in the 87' when Nicholas Kane used some nice footwork to create his first career tally. He first ran onto possession in the midfield near the Stevenson bench, and he pushed forward to 25 yards out before cutting his defender to the left, pushing to the top of the 18, and putting a hard strike inside the left post.
 
In the Box
Messiah outshot the Mustangs 18-1, and they also earned eight corners to Stevenson's zero. Connor Bell (one save) and Nate Flanders combined for the Falcons' second-straight shutout and eighth in their past nine games.
 
Up Next
Messiah will now prepare for next week's MAC Commonwealth Semifinal, which will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 1 on Shoemaker Field. The Falcons will play as the No. 1 seed and will host the winner of No. 4 Arcadia and No. 5 Alvernia, who will match-up in the Quarterfinal on Monday night.
 
Game time for Wednesday, regardless of the opponent, is set for 7:00 p.m.