GRANTHAM, Pa. - The No. 1 Messiah men's soccer team tallied a half dozen goals under the bright lights of Shoemaker Field on Saturday night en route to a 6-1 victory over the Hood College Blazers. Nick West tallied a pair of goals notching his 14th of the season in the 24th minute and 15th just after the half in the 47th minute.
 
In addition to West's brace, Brit Haseltine, Christian Valen, Justin Brautigam, and Lucas Kokolios each found the back of the net to lead the Falcons to victory in their first MAC Commonwealth match of the year.
 
In the match the Falcons fired a total of 45 shots while putting 20 attempts on frame against six shots (one on goal) for the Blazers.
 
West Continues His Scoring Ways
Nick West entered Saturday's match tied for the National lead in goals scored with 11 tallies and the senior continued his torrid scoring pace with two more scores against the Blazers. West nearly opened the scoring with a shot in the 21st minute when he went one-on-one with the Blazers' keeper, but his attempt from the right-side slid just wide of the left post.
 
Just two minutes later, West found his first goal of the contest in the 24th minute off a pass from David Alejos. The shot from inside the box found its way through the Blazers' back line and into the netting for his 14th tally of the season.
 
With the Falcons leading 3-0 early in the second-half, West notched his second of the contest after blowing by the Hood defense and finding the left-side netting. West ended Saturday with 15 goals on the season.
 
Building the Lead
Following West's opening goal, Micah Fitz created the Falcons' second goal of the evening with a beautiful individual play on the end line. Fitz broke down his defender before delivering a ball to the far post that found Brit Haseltine for the header goal. Haseltine's tally came in the 35th minute.
 
In the 41st minute, Haseltine set up another Messiah score with a cross to Christian Valen from pointblank range for the tap-in score. Valen's first goal of the season gave Messiah a 3-0 lead heading into halftime.
 
As mentioned, West netted the fourth Messiah tally just after the break before Justin Brautigam scored his third goal of the year in the 54th minute to push the lead to 5-0. Brautigam's initial shot was blocked, but his second swing on a half volley bumped the Messiah lead to five.
 
In the 73rd minute, Fitz created another goal for the Falcons with a pass to Lucas Kokolios for the sixth and final Messiah goal of the night.
 
While Hood would also tally in the 73rd minute off a strike from Christian Fisher, Messiah would earn the 6-1 victory and improve to 8-0-1 on the season.
 
Messiah's 45 shots in the contest marks the first time the Falcons tallied 40-plus shots in a match since a 41-shot performance against Centenary (NJ) in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 12, 2016.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah will next take the field on Monday night when they travel to Baltimore to take on the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays at 7:00 p.m. The Blue Jays are 7-3-0 this season and last year's meeting resulted in a tight, 1-0 Messiah victory on Shoemaker Field.