OWINGS MILLS, Md. – The No. 4 Messiah men's soccer team asserted themselves as the top team in the MAC Commonwealth on Tuesday night with a dominating 7-0 victory over Stevenson to hand the Mustangs their first loss of the conference season. The Falcons now stand alone atop the conference standings with a perfect 6-0-0 record in the MAC Commonwealth. Messiah scored a pair of goals in the ninth and 12th minutes to take a 2-0 lead at the half. The Falcons then exploded for five goals in a 13-minute span in the middle of the second half to earn their largest victory since a 7-0 victory against Stevenson on Oct. 30, 2019.
 
Matt McDonald and Stefan Leitzel each netted a pair of goals in the second half to lead five different goal scorers on the evening. Luke Brautigam got the party started in the ninth minute with his fifth goal of the season. Trevor Goodling scored just three minutes later off a cross from Jonathan Groothoff.
 
McDonald scored a pair of goals in the 58th and 60th minutes to double the Falcons lead before Stefan Leitzel scored back-to-back goals in a three-goal, five-minute stretch. Josh Bratager netted the final goal of the stretch and the last goal of the night in the 71st minute to give the Falcons a 7-0 victory.
 
Messiah moves to 12-0-2 overall and stands along with a 6-0-0 record in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
Two Early Goals
Messiah got on the board early with a pair of goals in the first 12 minutes of the match. In the ninth minute, the Falcons had a ball sent into the box with a header from Trevor Goodling getting into the box. After an initial shot by Messiah was blocked, Luke Brautigam ran onto the free ball for a strike that made it a 1-0 game.
 
Less than three minutes later, Messiah was at it again with Grant Johnson sending a cross into the box. The feed found the foot of a leaping Trevor Goodling who redirected the feed into the left-side of the goal to make it 2-0 in favor of the Falcons.
 
Despite some quality chances across the remainder of the half, Messiah held that 2-0 as the match headed to the break.
 
McDonald Goes Back-to-Back
The second half was a goal-scoring barrage for the Falcons. Messiah started quickly with back-to-back scores from Matt McDonald in the 58th and 60th minutes. First, McDonald scored with his head off a cross from Grant Johnson. McDonald headed the ball off the crossbar and the post before finding the back of the net. Just minutes later, McDonald was in the right place at the right time. Luke Brautigam attempted a volley off a cross, but his shot knocked off a teammate and right to Matt McDonald, who poked his shot through from point blank range.
 
McDonald's fourth and fifth goals of the season, put the Falcons up 4-0 with 30 minutes remaining.
 
Lefever, Leitzel, and Bratager Score Consecutively
Messiah still had plenty of offensive fire power remaining. In the 66th minute, Ben Lefever found his moment with a beautiful finish from the right side of the field off a long cross from Luke Brautigam.  Lefever took his defender on one-on-one and beat him to the inside. A left-footed strike curled inside the far post and settled in the side netting for a 5-0 lead.
 
Four minutes later, Stefan Leitzel extended his goal-scoring streak to half a dozen games with a header in the 70th minute off a feed from Zackary Venus. Leitzel snuck in front of his defender and hammered home a header that the keeper had no chance of stopping. As mentioned, the goal pushed Leitzel's goal scoring streak to six matches. Leitzel becomes the 18th player in Messiah men's soccer history to score a goal in at least six consecutive games.
 
Just over a minute later, Josh Bratager found the back of the net off a feed from Trevor Swartz. Bratager fought through the Mustangs' back line for a one-on-one chance with the keeper. Bratager deftly hit his strike inside the right post for a 7-0 Messiah lead.
 
That score was the final goal of the evening for the Falcons, who were on the front foot all night. Messiah attempted 23 shots on Tuesday night, putting 12 on frame while Stevenson took three total shots without putting one on frame.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will end the regular season with three home games against Widener, Hood, and Penn State Harrisburg. Messiah will host the Widener Pride this Saturday at 5:00 p.m. on Shoemaker Field. A victory would clinch the top seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament for the Falcons.