MONTCLAIR, N.J. – A busy second-half for the No. 1 Messiah men's soccer team led the Falcons to a 5-1 victory over the Montclair State Red Hawks on Saturday night. The Falcons held a 1-0 lead at the half thanks to a Samuel Ruiz Plaza goal in the 29th minute, but Messiah poured in four goals after the break en route to a 5-1 victory to improve to 3-0-1 on the season.
 
Nick West notched a pair of goals in the match with scores in the 56th and 85th minutes. Justin Brautigam connected with a header off a cross from Jonathan Groothoff in the 66th minute to make it a 3-0 lead for the Falcons.
 
A goal for the Red Hawks followed in the 78th minute before West's second tally just seven minutes later. Joseph Cianciotta capped off the night with his first career score with just seconds left on the clock to give Messiah the 5-1 victory.
 
The Falcons will be next in action on Wednesday when they make the short drive to Dickinson to play the Red Devils at 7:00 p.m.

How It Happened
A recap of tonight's goals gives just some context to how Saturday night's game unfolded. In reality the contest was a end-to-end match that featured plenty of action and opportunities for both the Falcons and Red Hawks. While Messiah held the advantage in shots in the match, it was only by a slight 19-16 edge. The Falcons did put 13 of their 19 attempts on target, while the Red Hawks put eight shots on frame.

With Montclair putting eight attempts on goal, Messiah keeper Connor Bell had the opportunity to make a career-high seven saves in the contest. Bell had achieved his previous high of six three different times in his career, most recently against Lebanon Valley on Oct. 21, 2017.

Nick West led the way for the Falcons creating chances for the visitors, registering eight shots and putting seven on goal.

Closing Time
While the game was back-and-forth throughout, the Falcons were the ones making the most of their opportunities. After Samuel Ruiz Plaza's opening mark midway through the half, Messiah scored four goals in the second-half to really put the match out of reach.

Nick West created his own look at goal in the 56th minute by carrying down the sideline before cutting back into the box before unleashing a low line drive shot for his four tally of the year. Just 10 minutes later, the Falcons scored from the right sideline when Jonathan Groothoff sent a cross to Justin Brautigam in the 66th minute. Brautigam redirected the cross inside the far post and pushed the Messiah lead to 3-0.

After Jose Huerta scored for Montclair State to cut the Messiah advantage to 3-1, the Falcons were back on the attack. West stole a backwards pass by the Red Hawks' defense and finished off the fourth Messiah goal of the evening. The fifth and final goal of the night for the Falcons came with just seconds remaining on the clock. With the Falcons pushing forward, the Red Hawks' keeper cam off his line and the ball was chipped over top of him out of a scrum in the box. Joseph Cianciotta was the man on the spot to tap home the lose ball for his first career goal and the final of the night for the Falcons.

Extra Notes
After scoring twice in tonight's contest, Nick West leads the team with five goals through four games. West is off to the hottest goal-scoring start to a season for a Falcon in the last decade. No Falcon has scored more than four goals in the first four matches of a year since Geoff Pezon tallied six goals in the first four games of the 2008 season. Pezon finished that season with 19 goals in 26 games.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will now head to Dickinson College to take on the Red Devils on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. The Red Devils are 2-1-1 so far this season and are coming off a 1-0 victory over Roanoke College in Virginia this evening.