GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 2 Messiah men's soccer team defeated Hood College, 7-0, Wednesday night at Shoemaker Field to clinch an undefeated regular season record (8-0-0) in the MAC Commonwealth. Trevor Goodling recorded two goals as Ben Lefever, Luke Brautigam, Matt McDonald, Stefan Leitzel, and Lucas Kokolios all added tallies in the conference victory.
 
Goodling got the Falcons off to a fast start, scoring his first of two goals just 1:27 into the contest. Messiah never looked back, increasing its lead to 4-0 by halftime. The Falcons added three goals in the second half to solidify the win, improving to 14-0-2 overall on the season.
 
Leitzel scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season in the win as Goodling upped his season total to seven with his brace. The midfielder added an assist to total a game-high five points. Ben Lefever dished out two assists along with his score for four points on the night.
 
The Falcons will return to Shoemaker Field this Friday, Oct. 29th, when they clash with No. 25 Penn State – Harrisburg at 6:00 p.m.
 
Fast Start
The Falcons put their foot down on the gas early on Wednesday night, tallying in the second minute. Ben Lefever carried possession toward the end line on the right side before slotting a ball to a sliding Trevor Goodling on the near post for the finish. The score was Goodling's sixth of the season and put the Falcons up 1-0 right off the opening touch.
 
It was the first time this season the Falcons scored before the ninth minute of play.
 
Never Looking Back
After scoring early, the Falcons turned their attention to scoring often. The 1-0 lead stood for 21 minutes until Ben Lefever took a strike from the outside. A beautiful diving stop by the Hood keeper kept the Falcons off the board initially, but Luke Brautigam was there for the finish to double the lead.
 
Two more Messiah goals followed in the 31st and 43rd minutes to take a 4-0 advantage into the break.  The first of those two tallies came off a feed from Matt McDonald when he went one-on-one with the keeper and slipped a ball to Kokolios for the finish on the left side. The second was off a corner kick delivery from Dylan Englehart that Stefan Leitzel connected on for his eighth goal in the last eight games.
 
After the break, Ben Lefever connected in the 48th minute before Trevor Goodling connected on his second goal of the night in the 61st minute.
 
Matt McDonald cleaned up a shot from Cole Cristian in the 66th minute to cap off the scoring efforts for the Falcons in the 7-0 victory.
 
Goals Galore
The Falcons have now outscored their opponents by a mark of 20-0 over the last three games. Since their overtime victory over the Eastern Eagles on Oct. 16, the Falcons have been a goal-scoring machine. The Falcons earned a 7-0 victory over Stevenson on the road a week ago before a 6-0 mark over Widener this past weekend.
 
In the three-match stretch, nine different Falcons have found the back of the net with six different players netting multiple scores. Trevor Goodling leads the Falcons with four goals in the stretch while Matt McDonald has connected for three.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah is slated to conclude the regular season on Friday when they host the No. 25 Penn State Harrisburg Nittany Lions at 6:00 p.m. on Shoemaker Field. The meeting will be the second-ever meeting between the two squads. Messiah earned a 1-0 victory in Middletown on Sept. 4, 2019.