GRANTHAM, Pa. - No. 1 Messiah men's soccer scored four goals from four different players to claim a 4-0 victory over the Albright Lions on Saturday night. With the victory, Brad McCarty claims his 200th victory as the head coach of the Messiah men's soccer team. Lucas Kokolios got the scoring started early in the first-half, finding a quality moment in the sixth minute off a pass from David Alejos. The one-goal advantage would remain into the second-half, until Messiah netted three goals in a span of 12 minutes.
 
In the 55th minute, Justin Brautigam chipped Nick West behind the Albright defense with a give-and-go play that sprung the nation's leading goal scorer for an one-on-one opportunity with the keeper. West beat him left and scored the first goal in the stretch for the Falcons.
 
Just over a minute later, Luke Groothoff connected on his fourth goal of the season thanks to a double assist from Jonathan Groothoff and Trevor Swartz. Eleven minutes later, Jonathan Groothoff was dishing out another assist in the 67th minute. With a cross out of the right corner, Groothoff delivered a perfect ball to Brit Haseltine who volleyed it past the keeper for the fourth and final goal of the night.
 
Between the pipes, Connor Bell and Nate Flanders split time to register the fifth shutout for Messiah this season.
 
Early Strike
After Albright's Anthony Parlato registered the first shot of the game in the fifth minute with an attempt that sailed wide, Messiah struck with a goal on their first shot of the game. In the sixth minute, Nick West sent a through ball down the left-side to David Alejos. He touched the ball down to the end line before sliding a pass against the grain of the defense to Lucas Kokolios on the penalty spot.
 
Kokolios redirected the pass with a one-time shot with his left foot past the Albright keeper, Billy Mullen. The tally for Kokolios was his second of the season and gave Messiah a 1-0 lead in the opening minutes of the match.
 
Maintaining Pressure
Messiah continued their pressure with a half dozen shots in the next 20 minutes and a total of 14 shots in the remainder of the half. The Falcons' pressure kept the Lions on their heels and they were held to just three total shots in the opening half.
 
The most dangerous moments for the Messiah offense came in the form of headers from Nick West and Luke Brautigam. In the 14th minute, it appeared that Nick West had scored in his 11th-straight game with a header, but his attempt hit the underside of the crossbar. Late in the half, it was Luke Brautigam rattling a header off the post. After the Lions cleared the ball away, Messiah continued to lead 1-0 into the half.
 
Increasing the Lead
After the break, Messiah turned up the pressure and found a pair of goals in the first 11 minutes of the half. The first of the two tallies came off a give-and-goal between Nick West and Justin Brautigam. West found Brautigam before he chipped a pass back through the Lions' defense to West for a one-on-one chance with the keeper. West deftly slotted a shot inside the left post for his nation-leading 19th goal of the season. The tally extended West's program-record scoring streak to 11 games.
 
Just over a minute after West found the twine, it was Luke Groothoff tallying off a feed from his brother Jonathan Groothoff. From the right sideline, Jonathan send a cross to the penalty spot that Luke one-touched into the left-side of the net for his fourth score of the season. It was the first time the Groothoff brothers had connected for a goal this season.
 
Just 11 minutes after the Groothoff connection, Brit Haseltine scored an early contender for goal of the year off a full volley in the middle of the box. It was Jonathan Groothoff again sending a perfect cross into the middle of the box, this time Haseltine was on the other end and waited patiently to strike for his third goal of the year. The junior caught the ball squarely with his right foot and buried the ball in the net before the Albright keeper had a chance to react.
 
Haseltine's tally was the final notch of the match and Messiah earned a 4-0 victory while outshooting the Lions 36-7 in the contest.

McCarty Claims 200th Victory
In his 10th season, Brad McCarty becomes the 51st men's soccer coach in Division III history with 200 wins. He holds a 200-13-11 overall record at the helm of the Messiah men's soccer program, claiming five National Championships and six MAC Commonwealth Titles during his tenure.

McCarty has guided the Falcons to the NCAA Tournament in eight of his first nine seasons and currently owns the highest winning percentage (.917) among men's coaches in NCAA Division I, II, or III history with at least five years of experience. Additionally, McCarty owns the second-highest winning percentage among all men's or women's soccer coaches at any level of the NCAA, trailing only Messiah women's soccer coach, Scott Frey (390-23-24, .920), by percentage points.
 
What's Up Next
With the victory, Messiah moves to 10-0-2 on the season and 3-0-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. They will now hit the road for their next two games, first against the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. before traveling to Alvernia to take on the Golden Wolves at 7:00 p.m. next Saturday.