ONEONTA, N.Y. - The No. 8 Messiah men's soccer advances to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament thanks to a 6-1 victory over the Framingham State Rams on Saturday morning. Trevor Goodling led Messiah with a pair of tallies as a total of five Falcons found the back of the net. Messiah opening the scoring in the third minute off the foot of Lucas Kokolios. The Falcons followed with two more tallies in the first half to take a 3-0 lead at the break.
 
After Messiah scored twice early in the second half, the Rams got on the board in the 60th minute to make it a 5-1 Messiah lead. Joseph Cianciotta put the finishing touches on the 6-1 victory with a goal off a corner in the 85th minute.
 
Messiah outshot the Rams 23-10 on the afternoon, putting 15 shots on goal against just two from Framingham State.
 
Messiah advances to tomorrow's Second Round at 1:00 p.m. against the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons. On Saturday afternoon, the Red Dragons outlasted the Babson Beavers 3-2 in overtime to move into the Second Round.
 
Finding the Early Tally
Messiah scored the first of six goals on just their second shot of the morning on Saturday. Just 20 seconds after Luke Groothoff had Messiah's first shot of the day saved, Ben Lefever found a wide-open Lucas Kokolios at the top of the box. From the right-side Lefever sent a pass to Kokolios, who had plenty of time to get the ball on his left and slot a shot into the back of the net on the left-side. The tally gave Messiah an early 1-0 lead.
 
Tacking On
Messiah continued to pressure the Rams' defense, taking five more shots over the next 15 minutes. In the 24th minute, Messiah earned a penalty kick. Trevor Goodling stepped up and converted the opportunity to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead midway through the opening half.
 
The Falcons added one more goal in the final minutes of the first half off a header from Matt McDonald. In the 44th minute, Christian Valen sent a cross in from the edge of the box on the right-side to McDonald in the middle of the six. McDonald redirected the delivery inside the left post, skipping his header past the keeper for a 3-0 Messiah lead entering the half.
 
During the opening half, the Rams also had their opportunities, taking a half dozen shots. While none of the Rams' six attempts went on frame, Messiah took 11 shots, putting eight on goal.
 
Pulling Away
Just as they did in the opening half, Messiah struck quickly after the break. Just over three minutes into the second half, Micah Fitz found the back of the net off a feed from Ben Lefever. The through ball from Lefever brought the keeper off his line, but Fitz got to the pass first and touched the ball around the keeper before rolling his shot into the open net. The tally was Fitz's third of the season and gave Messiah a commanding 4-0 lead.
 
Trevor Goodling scored his second goal of the game in the 53rd minute off a rocket over the keeper's head. A Messiah cross from the left side was deflected to Goodling by a defender at the top of the box. Goodling stepped on the ball and dribbled to his left to create a shooting lane. His rip split a pair of defenders and beat the keeper high for a 5-0 Messiah lead.
 
After the Rams got on the board in the 60th minute, Messiah found their sixth and final tally of the day off the head of Joey Cianciotta. In the 85th minute, Chris Sepessy sent a corner kick into the middle of the box where Cianciotta met the delivery and headed home his second career goal, giving Messiah the final goal in an eventual 6-1 victory.
 
What's Up Next
With the victory, Messiah advances to Sunday and the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Falcons will take on the host, SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons, who escaped the Babson Beavers 3-2 in overtime on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons and Red Dragons have met two other times with Messiah holding a 1-0-1 all-time record against Oneonta. Messiah won the last meeting 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 6, 2013.