GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah men's soccer team claimed a 3-1 victory over the Dickinson Red Devils on Wednesday night to move to 2-2-1 on the season. After taking an early lead in just the third minute off a tally from Ben Lefever, Messiah held a 1-0 advantage into the early portion of the second-half.
 
Dickinson's Will Flannery found the equalizer in the 57th minute, but Messiah responded with a penalty kick goal from Cooper Robbins less a minute later to take the lead back.
 
Zackary Venus added some insurance for the Falcons in the 74th minute off a feed from Luke Brautigam for the first goal of his career.
 
Messiah outshot the Red Devils 18-13 in the game while putting eight of their attempts on frame against just four for Dickinson.
 
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Eastern Mennonite University at 7:00 p.m.
 
Falcons Strike Early
Messiah wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in Wednesday's contest, netting a goal off the foot of Ben Lefever in just the third minute. Micah Fitz carried the ball into the box from the right side before sliding a ball to Lefever on the right side of the box. Lefever ran onto the ball and ripped a low shot into the side netting on the far post for the 1-0 lead.
 
With the early tally, Lefever has now scored in two-straight games. It was the fastest goal to start a game for the Falcons since Sheldon Myer also scored in the third minute against Kenyon College in the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 23, 2013.
 
Dickinson Finds an Equalizer
The Falcons held their 1-0 lead through the half, but in the 57th minute the Red Devils tied the game with a perfectly placed one-time strike off the foot of Will Flannery from just above the top of the box from about 20 yards out. Flannery placed the loose ball in the righthand, upper 90 to level the game at 1-1.
 
It looked for a moment that the Red Devils took the lead just seconds after the equalizer when a Messiah turnover led to a dangerous opportunity. The ball found its way into the back of the net, but it was waved off for offsides on the through ball to set up the strike.
 
Robbins Puts Falcons Back on Top
After the offsides scare, Messiah quickly countered and in the 58th minute Micah Fitz carried the ball down the right side. After shrugging off a shirt pull or two in the midfield, Fitz worked his way into the edge of the box before slotting a pass toward the middle of the 18. With a pair of teammates waiting for the cutback pass, a Dickinson defender put a two-handed shove into the back of Ben Lefever and the Falcons were awarded a penalty kick.
 
Cooper Robbins calmly stepped up and hammered home the penalty kick to give the Falcons the lead right back, less than a minute after the Red Devils evened the score.
 
Venus Adds Insurance
In the 74th minute, the Falcons found an insurance goal thanks to the first career tally from Zackary Venus. In the left corner, Brit Haseltine and Luke Brautigam play a nice one-two to get Brautigam the ball on the end line. After cutting to ball back, Brautigam played a ball to Venus in the middle of the box for a one-timer in the left-side netting.
 
The goal gave Messiah a 3-1 lead and the Falcons would hold on for the two-goal victory.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah will hit this weekend for an away match against Eastern Mennonite University at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night. Saturday night will be the 32nd meeting between the Falcons and Royals with Messiah owning a 25-5-1 all-time record in their previous meetings.