GRANTHAM, Pa. - On a rainy night on Shoemaker Field, the No. 11 Messiah men's soccer team netted seven tallies while shutting out the Stevenson Mustangs to end the regular season with a 7-0 victory. Despite the damp conditions, seven different Falcons found the back of the net in the runaway victory.
Messiah netted four times in the final 12 minutes of the first half before adding a pair of goals in the early portion of the second period.
Zackary Venus capped off the night with a goal in the 90th minute of play
The Falcons outshot the Mustangs 25-14 in the match while finishing the regular season with an overall record of 14-2-2. The Falcons will be the top seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament that begins next week. Their semifinal match-up is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7:00 p.m. on Shoemaker Field against an opponent that will be determined later this weekend.
Wild Finish to Opening Half
Messiah controlled the opening stretch of play, but the game was scoreless 33 minutes into the contest. During the first half hour of play, the Falcons took seven shots against three attempts from the Mustangs.
The Falcons would find the back of the net in the 34th minute when
Matt McDonald had a shot saved from the right side. His rebound trickled into the middle of the six where
Trevor Goodling hustled onto the loose ball for the attempt. Goodling one-touched the shot into the back of the net between a defender and the keeper for the 1-0 Falcons' lead.
Just five minutes later
Nicolas Kane netted an unassisted goal from outside the box on the right side. Kane found some space about 23 yards out and unleashed a floating shot toward the near post that nestled in the twine for his second game of the season, doubling the Messiah lead to 2-0.
The scoring continued in the 42nd minute when the Falcons earned a corner kick on the right side.
Grant Johnson stepped up to take the corner and curled a service toward the goal mouth. With some traffic in front, the Mustangs' keeper went up to punch the delivery clear, but the ball hit his back arm and crossed the goal line for the third goal in less than 10 minutes.
Not even a minute later,
Nicolas Kane found a streaking
Matt McDonald on the right side. McDonald took control of the feed and pushed forward before ripping a low shot to the back post for the 4-0 Messiah lead heading into the half. The score was the second of the season after scoring against Hood last week.
Messiah's nine-minute stretch from the 34th to 43rd minute resulted in six shots and four goals.
Second-Half Insurance
The Falcons did not waste time adding to their 4-0 halftime lead, scoring goals in the 54th and 56th minutes. The first of those tallies came off a header from
Luke Groothoff.
Lucas Kokolios sent a cross into the box from the right side and it was flicked on toward the middle of the box by
Reid Ruark. Groothoff was waiting for the flick and hammered a header into the middle of the goal mouth for the 5-0 lead.
Two minutes later
Trevor Goodling shielded off his defender on the top of the box and dropped a pass off to
Ben Lefever. From well outside the box, Lefever sent an early shot on frame that was outside the reach of the keeper and gave Messiah their sixth tally of the evening.
Penalty Kick Save
In the 66th minute, the Mustangs earned a penalty kick after a handball in the box against the Falcons. Jay Smith stepped up for Stevenson against
Jared Pavlovich for the Falcons. Smith sent a hard shot to the middle of the goal. Pavlovich dove to his left, but made the kick save to keep the shutout intact.
Cherry on Top
In the 90th minute,
Zackary Venus put the finishing touches on the 7-0 Messiah victory with a rebound goal off the initial shot from
Chris Sepessy. The tally was the second goal of the season for Venus.
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action next Wednesday when they host the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals at 7:00 p.m. Check GoMessiah.com later this weekend for more information on the upcoming Conference Tournament.
