GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 1 Messiah men's soccer team fell into an early 2-0 hole against the No. 23 SUNY Cortland Red Dragons in the first 24 minutes of their season opener on Friday night, but fought their way back to force overtime. Despite outshooting the Red Dragons 19-11 in the game, and 6-1 in overtime, the Falcons were unable to find the winner and the match ended in a 2-2 draw to open the season.
The Falcons dug their way out of the early hole thanks to goals from
Brit Haseltine and
Joseph King at the end of the first-half and beginning of the second-half, respectively.
Messiah has a quick turnaround as they will play again tomorrow evening at 5:00 p.m. against the Whitworth Pirates on Shoemaker Field.
Big Moments
The Red Dragons found a pair of goals off deep strikes from outside the box in the first 24 minutes of the contest to build their lead. The first came off the foot of Anthony Ruggiero in just the fourth minute. The freshman chested down a pass from the backline and took one touch around a defender before letting his shot fly from 23 yards out. His attempt tucked inside the right post and gave Cortland a 1-0 lead.
Just 20 minutes later, another rip from nearly the same spot found the back of the net for the Red Dragons. Leke Dossou collected a loose ball and sent a one-timer past a diving
Connor Bell, once again inside the right post.
Trailing 2-0, Messiah began their comeback with a sliding goal by
Brit Haseltine on a free kick in the 31st minute. With a free kick from just inside 30 yards,
Lucas Kokolios's pass nicked the wall, but it was perfectly deflected to Haseltine, who slid onto the ball right at the six for his first tally of the season.
With the Falcons still trailing 2-1 in the 54th minute, the Red Dragons attempted to clear a ball out of their defensive third of the field. The attempted clear was collected just short of midfield by
Joseph King with a head of steam. King took three touches through the Cortland defense before tucking a shot inside the left post to tie the match at 2-2. The goal was the first of King's career.
Despite chances for both sides through the remainder of regulation, the match turned to overtime. The Falcons pressured the Red Dragons relentlessly through the extra periods, taking six shots against just one attempt for Cortland. No moment was more dangerous than a Messiah free kick just over a minute into the second overtime period. From 20 yards out and straight away,
Nick West rattled a shot squarely off the crossbar, but it was cleared away and the Falcons were unable to find the game winner.
Performances to Highlight
As mentioned,
Joseph King connected on his first career goal that tied the match at 2-2 early in the second-half. The sophomore defender took two shots in the match, with one on target.
Nick West led the Falcons with seven total shots in the game, putting three on frame. No other player attempted more than two shots for Messiah in the contest.
In the Boxscore
While the majority of the game was played in the midfield, Messiah held a healthy advantage in shots with a 19-11 edge. SUNY Cortland only put two shots on goal in the contest, but made the pair count, scoring on both.
The Red Dragons held a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks, but also committed 16 more fouls than the Falcons (22-6).
What's Up Next
The Falcons are back on the pitch tomorrow evening when they host the Whitworth Pirates at 5:00 p.m. on Shoemaker Field. The Pirates were in Gettysburg on Friday night, where they fell to the Bullets by a 2-1 final.
