GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Falcons tallied three goals on Shoemaker Field on Wednesday afternoon and shutout the Hartwick Hawks by a 3-0 final to move to 2-0-1 on the young season. A trio of seniors tallied for the Falcons, with Samuel Ruiz Plaza, Nick West, and Justin Brautigam netting goals on a hot and humid afternoon in Grantham.
 
The Falcons maintained heavy pressure throughout the game, striking 25 shots while allowing just one shot by the visiting Hawks.
 
Messiah will travel to New Jersey on Sept. 8 to face off against Montclair State University at 6:00 PM.
 
How it Happened
The Falcons maintained consistent pressure throughout the entirety of Wednesday's contest. As mentioned, Messiah took 25 shots in the contest and held the Hawks shotless for the first 88 minutes of the match, allowing just one on the day.
 
It was just the third shot of the contest that resulted in the first tally for Messiah. In the ninth minute, the Falcons earned a free kick at the top of the box thanks to a ball played by Lucas Kokolios across the seam of the defense to Jonathan Groothoff. A foul followed just two paces outside the box and gave Messiah a set piece in an extremely dangerous spot.
 
Nick West stepped up and bent a ball over the wall and into the back of net to give Messiah the 1-0 advantage. West's tally was his fourth in the last two contests, following a Saturday hat trick against Whitworth.
 
Despite peppering the Hawks' keeper with 10 more shots in the opening half, the Messiah lead remained 1-0 heading into the second period.
 
Early in the second-half, Messiah earned a penalty kick when Kokolios took a turnover in the Hawk's defensive end and pushed it to the end-line before being taken down in the box form behind. Samuel Ruiz Plaza calmly stepped up to the spot and knocked home the second goal of the contest for the Falcons.
 
Five minutes later, Nick West carried the ball down to the end-line on the right sideline. West's centering pass found the foot of Justin Brautigam, about 10 yards from the goal. Brautigam's one-touch finished inside the right post, giving Messiah the 3-0 lead in the 55th minute.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah will hit the road for their first away match of the 2018 season on Saturday when they travel to Montclair State to take on the Red Hawks at 6:00 p.m.