Watch: West Gives Messiah 1-0 Lead
BUFFALO, N.Y. – No. 9 Messiah found the one goal they needed in a dominant 1-0 win over Castleton State in the NCAA First Round on Saturday night.
Nick West scored the game's only goal in the 54' and Messiah held the Spartans to just a single shot on frame.
The loss ends Castleton's season at 12-7-2, while Messiah moves to 19-2 overall and also into the NCAA Second Round tomorrow night against Hobart, who scored twice to win 2-0 over No. 21 Buffalo.
The Big Break
Messiah outshot the Spartans 25-3, and they allowed just a single shot on goal, but it was still 0-0 early in the second-half. To that point it was all Falcons, but keeper Aaron Parker was doing everything he needed to keep Messiah off the board. Parker—who is listed at 6'0" but appeared to have more length—won balls in the air and on the ground, but
Nick West finally beat him less than 10 minutes into the second-half.
Messiah switched fields to West on the left side, and attacked his man to the corner of the box before getting an angle for a shot toward the near post. Parker appeared to smother the shot on the ground, but it went under his grab, off the post, back off his leg, and over the goal line.
Kirby Robbins ran onto the ball to make sure it was through, but West's initial shot had all the force needed to put the Falcons on the board.
The winner for West was his fifth, tying him with Robbins for second on the team behind
Colby Thomas (6).
Rising Totals
West's goal gave a sigh of relief to the Falcons, especially as they were dominating the Spartans from the opening whistle. Messiah collected seven shots in the first 20 minutes alone—including an offering by West in the 17' that was grabbed high out of the air. In the second-half, and minutes before West's goal, they continued the onslaught and seemed poised to score when
Danny Brandt was slotted into the box for a look near the right post.
Parker made that save, too, however, and it was West's winner that held as the difference. This was the seventh time Messiah reached the 20-shot mark in a game, and also the seventh time they put 10-plus shots on frame.
In The Box
Messiah's Conner Bell collected a single save, while Messiah earned three corners to the Spartans' zero. The teams also combined for just nine fouls in a very clean match.
This was Messiah's 16th 1-0 win in the NCAA Tournament in program history, the last of which came in the 2014 Second Round against Morrisville State.
Up Next
As mentioned, Messiah will play Hobart on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. The Statesmen scored twice against host Buffalo to win 2-0, their fourth-straight game scoring exactly two goals (8-1 goals against, 4-0 record).
