ITHACA, N.Y. - The No. 5 Messiah men's soccer team caught a bit of bad luck on Saturday afternoon, as the Ithaca Bombers scored the lone goal in a 1-0 decision off a clearance attempt ricochet in the 52nd minute. Messiah dropped their second-straight 1-0 game to open the 2019 season.
 
Messiah outshot the Bombers 11-8 in the contest and had a number of dangerous opportunities late in the game, but were unable to find the equalizer.
 
The Falcons are next in action on Sept. 4 when they travel to Penn State - Harrisburg at 5:00 p.m.
 
Level Opening Half
Both the Falcons and Bombers had dangerous opportunities in the opening 45 minutes of Saturday afternoon's game. Messiah held a slim 5-4 advantage in shots with both teams putting one on goal. Ithaca had the first real chance of the game in the seventh minute when Tom Dillmann sent a shot on frame, but Nate Flanders turned the attempt away to keep the game scoreless early on.
 
Over the next 30 minutes, Messiah and Ithaca traded shots with each taking four before Messiah had a flutter of activity in front of the Bombers goal. In the 35th minute, Ben Lefever had a shot blocked and Darryl Daniels' follow-up was saved by Ithaca's Max Lichtenstein.
 
Just eight minutes later, it looked like Messiah was going to get on the board first with a slotted back into the middle of the box from the end line. The pass was put into the back of the end, but it was ruled that the ball had gone out of bounds for an Ithaca goal kick prior to the pass. As a result, the game remained tied 0-0 heading into the second-half.
 
Ithaca Breaks Through
In the 52nd minute, the Bombers broke through for the first goal of the contest. After playing through the midfield and into the top of the box, Ithaca worked the ball deep into the right corner of the 18 near the end line. An initial shot from Jonathan Kyriakidis was saved by Nate Flanders before a clearance attempt by the Messiah defense ricocheted off of Alex Leahy for the Bombers and into the back of the net.
 
The tally was Leahy's second of the young season and gave Ithaca the 1-0 lead early in the half.
 
Bombers Withstand Messiah Pressure
After falling behind by one, Messiah turned up the pressure, attempting five shots down the stretch. In the 63rd minute, Micah Fitz turned toward the middle of the field from the right side and sent a low bouncing ball toward the keeper. After initially bobbling the shot, Lichtenstein dove on the loose ball before any of the crashing Messiah players could get a touch.
 
In the closing minutes, Messiah ripped three shots, two of which were saved in the 88th minute off attempts from Lucas Kokolios and Fitz. Despite the late pressure, Ithaca was able to hold on for the 1-0 victory.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will return to Central Pennsylvania when they take on Penn State - Harrisburg on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. The meeting will be the first ever between the two schools.