OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Playing in their second overtime match in the last three days, No. 1 Messiah men's soccer earned a thrilling 2-1 victory with a goal off the foot of Luke Groothoff in the 97th minute against Stevenson University. Messiah scored their first goal of the match in the 77th minute when Lucas Kokolios sent a cross to Nick West off a corner. West headed the cross to the near post to put Messiah ahead 1-0.
 
Just under seven minutes later, Stevenson leveled the game on just their sixth shot of the match. Off a rebound, James Rosa finished off the loose ball through traffic to even the score at 1-1.
 
Luke Groothoff found the golden moment for the Falcons with a strike in the 97th minute. The goal gave Messiah their ninth victory of the season and keeps the Falcons' conference record unblemished at 2-0-0.
 
The Falcons are back in action this weekend when they host the Albright Lions on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
 
Scoreless Start
Messiah held a 7-3 advantage in shots in the opening half, but neither team could find the back of the net in the opening half. Despite 10 total shots between the two side, neither goalie was tested with none of the 10 attempts sent on frame.
 
The Mustangs had the first two shots of the match with attempts from DR Medtart and Jay Smith went wide in the first nine minutes of the match. Messiah countered with shots from Nick West and Justin Brautigam in the next two minutes, but both shots were blocked.
 
West Strikes Again
The scoreless streak continued well into the second-half until Nick West found the twine for the 18th time of the season in the 77th minute. Lucas Kokolios sent an in-swinging cross off a corner from the right-side to Nick West, who was waiting on the near post. West's header beat the Stevenson keeper to his left and put Messiah on the board.
 
As mentioned, the goal was the 18th of the season for West as he continues is scorching start to the year. There are 413 NCAA Division III men's soccer programs in the country. West has outscored 250 of them, by himself.
 
With his goal on Wednesday, West has now scored in 10-straight matches, setting the Messiah men's soccer program record for most consecutive matches with a goal (data beings in the 1975 season). The goal, broke a three-way tie for the longest streak that West held with Ken Long (1975) and Jim Blouch (1981).
 
Level Match
The Falcons would not hold the lead for long, as the Mustangs found the equalizer in the 84th minute. James Rosa cleaned up a saved shot from Tariq Lee by poking a shot past the Messiah defense to even the match at 1-1.
 
Neither team registered a shot in the final six minutes and the match headed to overtime even at 1-1.
 
Golden Groothoff
In the seventh minute of overtime, Nick West forced a turnover on the midfield stripe and pushed forward, eluding a handful of defenders and working his way into the box. West unleashed a low shot from the top, right-side of the box but his attempt was saved. The rebound went to the foot of Luke Groothoff in the middle of the box. Groothoff took a touch to his right to shake a defender before tucking a shot under the right hand of the Mustangs keeper for the game winner.
 
The overtime victory was the first Messiah victory in extra time this season after playing to a pair of draws in their previous two overtime matches (vs. SUNY Cortland, Aug. 31 and at Johns Hopkins, Oct. 1).
 
What's Up Next
With the victory, Messiah moves to 9-0-2 on the season and improves to 2-0-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons will continue the conference slate with a match against the Albright Lions this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on Shoemaker Field.