GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah men's soccer team carried an undefeated 8-0-0 record through the MAC Commonwealth regular season to claim the top seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. The Falcons will host the fifth-seeded Stevenson Mustangs in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal on Wednesday after Stevenson defeated York in the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Game last night by a 3-0 final score.
The Falcons and Mustangs will play on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. on Shoemaker Field. In the other semifinal, the second-seeded Lebanon Valley Dutchmen will host the Alvernia Golden Wolves with the semifinal winners squaring off at the higher seed on Saturday.
Over the last few decades, the MAC Commonwealth Championship has come through Grantham. Messiah men's soccer has claimed 18 Conference Titles in program history, including 15 of the last 20 Championships contested (the 2020 Championships were canceled due to COVID). Including their victory in the 2000 Conference Championship, Messiah has appeared in all but two MAC Commonwealth Finals (2006, 2013) since the start of the 2000s. In both of those seasons the Falcons rebounded to win the National Championship.
Tickets are required for all MAC Tournament contests and can be purchased at the gate for the following prices: Adults - $5, Senior Citizens - $4, Students (with ID) and Children - $2, Children under 6 - Free.
See below for a quick preview of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament field:
No. 1 Messiah University Falcons – 14-1-2 overall, 8-0-0 conference
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The Falcons have been held under two goals in a game just four times this season and are one of the most complete teams in the country this season. The Falcons rank in the top-ten nationally in both Scoring Offense (3.41 goals/game) and Goals Against Average (0.451 GAA). As a result, the Falcons hold the fifth-best goal differential in the nation at 50 (58 goals for and eight goals against).
Messiah shares the offensive burden with 16 different players picking up at least one goal this season.
Stefan Leitzel has come off the bench all season, but leads the offensive effort with eight goals. Joining Leitzel with double-digit points this season are
Trevor Goodling (7g, 3a),
Luke Brautigam (6g, 3a),
Matt McDonald (6g, 3a),
Luke Groothoff (5g, 1a), and
Ben Lefever (3g, 5a).
No. 5 Stevenson University Mustangs – 9-9-2, 4-4-0
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The Stevenson Mustangs have been on a bit of a roller coaster this season. They started the season with a pair of 1-0 overtime losses before going 4-0-1 in their next five matches with a solid draw against Johns Hopkins. Three more losses and a draw later, the Mustangs were through the non-conference slate with a 4-5-2 record. After winning their first four conference games, the Mustangs lost their last four to limp into the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Game against York. They shook that limp pretty quickly with three first-half goals en route to a 3-0 victory over the Spartans to advance to the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals against Messiah.
Sean McDonald leads the Mustangs with five goals this season. Dylan Holy, Edson DeMata ribeiro, and Iliass Zouita are the three other scorers with three goals each this season. As a team, the Mustangs hold a .500 record with nine wins and nine losses. Their goals for and against matches that exactly with 27 goals scored and 27 goals allowed.
When they met: On Oct. 19, Messiah scored two first-half goals before netting five second-half tallies to claim the 7-0 victory over the Mustangs. Messiah was ultra-efficient with their seven goals coming on just 23 total shots, with 12 attempts on frame.
Matt McDonald was the lone Falcon with multiple scores, netting the Falcons' third and fourth goals of the night less than two minutes apart.
No. 2 Lebanon Valley College Dutchmen – 13-4-0, 6-2-0
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The Dutchmen are one of three teams in the MAC Commonwealth that won double-digit games during the regular season. The Dutchmen rolled through the start of the season, winning nine of their first 10 games, but back-to-back losses against Messiah (4-1) and Eastern (2-1) slowed their momentum. Their only other setback the rest of the way was a 3-0 loss on the road against a ranked Franklin & Marshall side.
The Dutchmen are led by Lucas Strange with a dozen goals this season. Strange ranks second in the conference in goals scored this season, but no other teammate has more than five tallies on the year. Between the pipes, Sean Quick leads the conference with 91 saves this season for a .805 save percentage, the third best mark in the conference.
When they met: The Dutchmen scored first when they visited Messiah on the Falcons' Homecoming weekend in early October. The Falcons quickly responded with four unanswered goals to earn the 4-1 victory, handing the Dutchmen their second loss of the season.
Stefan Leitzel connected twice in the match for the Falcons, while Aaron Weitzel scored for Lebanon Valley.
No. 3 Alvernia University Golden Wolves – 14-4-0, 6-2-0
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The Golden Wolves have scored more than two goals in a game just three times this season, but their defense has been solid throughout the 2021 campaign. Alvernia has allowed just 15 tallies, while finding the back of the net 27 total times, en route to a 14-4 regular season record. In conference, started the season 3-0 before back-to-back conference losses to Messiah (4-0) and Lebanon Valley (1-0). The Golden Wolves rebounded nicely with three-straight shutout victories over Stevenson (1-0), Albright (3-0), and Hood (3-0) to end the conference slate.
A joint effort up front has three different Golden Wolves with double-digit points this season. With six goals and four assists, Alvernia is led by Braden Kreider while a pair of Ryans, Ryan Kuster and Ryan Cogill have six and five goals, respectively.
When they met: It took the Falcons until the 41st minute to dent the scoreboard in mid-October against Alvernia, but Messiah netted three more goals after the break to earn a 4-0 victory.
Trevor Swartz,
Luke Groothoff,
Jonathan Groothoff, and
Stefan Leitzel all scored as Messiah outshot the Golden Wolves 30-4 in the match.
