FREDERICK, Md. – In a dominating effort, the No. 2 Messiah men's soccer team was nearly perfect on Wednesday night, earning a 9-0 victory over the Hood Blazers. Three different Falcons earned multi-goal games with Matt McDonald, Jake Lent-Koop, and Josh Bratager all finding the back of the net twice. Dylan Englehart, Stefan Leitzel, and Patrick Lee each scored once as the Falcons netted nine goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 16, 2013 against Centenary in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Falcons did all of their damage in a 38-minute span between the 30th and 68th minutes. Messiah took a 3-0 lead at the break after Matt McDonald, Josh Bratager, and Dylan Englehart connected in the final 16 minutes of the first half.
 
In the second half, Messiah busted things open with six goals, including a pair of headers from Jake Lent-Koop.
 
The Falcons attempted 35 shots on the evening while holding the Blazers to just two in the contest. Of the Falcons' 35 attempts, 20 went on frame with nine finding the back of the net.
 
With the victory, Messiah improves to 14-0-1 on the season and 5-0 in the conference. The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday when they host the Albright Lions in their regular season home finale at 5:00 p.m. on Shoemaker Field.
 
Building a Lead
The match started with the Falcons on the front foot, but Messiah was unable to get on the board for the first 29 minutes. In the 30th minute, Dylan Englehart carried possession for the Falcons down the left side. Englehart's drive drew the attention of the Blazers' defense. With Englehart drawing a crowd, Matt McDonald was left unmarked in the middle of the box. Even with the pressure, Englehart slipped a pass to McDonald for a tap-in finish.
 
In the 33rd minute, Hood lost control of a feed at the top of the box. Josh Bratager collected the loose ball and hammered a right-footed, one-time shot past a diving keeper for a 2-0 Messiah lead.
 
Dylan Englehart made it a 3-0 lead from nearly the exact same spot. Englehart picked up a feed and worked his way around a defender and set a left-footed rocket toward the left post. The keeper got a hand on the shot, but the attempted had too much zip and the ball found the netting for a 3-0 Messiah lead at the half.
 
Three Headers Open Up A Cushion
Just over a minute into the second half, Matt McDonald scored his second goal of the night. Ben Lefever found his head with a cross from the right side and McDonald hammered it home for a 4-0 lead.
 
Jake Lent-Koop scored consecutive goals for Messiah with tallies in the 54th and 57th minute. Both of Lent-Koop's goals came with his head. The first was assisted by McDonald and after Lent-Koop pounded in the finish, Cole Cristian ran a cross into his noggin for Messiah's sixth tally of the evening. With two goals in the match, Lent-Koop has his first career multi-goal game.
 
Expanding the Advantage
The Falcons continued to extend their lead, ballooning the advantage to nine with goals from Patrick Lee, Josh Bratager, and Stefan Leitzel. Lee connected in the 62nd minute with a hard feed from Zackary Venus. Lee brought the feed down and sent a hard shot inside the left post.
 
Three minutes later, Bratager scored his second goal of the evening, cleaning up a rebound off a shot from Stefan Leitzel. Bratager knocked home his finish from point-blank range to make it an 8-0 match. The match was Bratager's first career multi-goal game.
 
Leitzel found the back of the net for Messiah's ninth and final tally of the evening in the 68th minute. Dylan Englehart beat his defender to the end line and sent a cross into the middle of the box for the head of Leitzel for the 9-0 lead.
 
Messiah did not attempt another shot in the contest, despite holding possession for the majority of the final 20-pluse minutes.
 
What's Up Next
With their largest shutout victory since an 11-0 victory over Juniata on Oct. 13, 2004, the Falcons improve to 14-0-1 on the season and remain a perfect 5-0-0 in the conference. The Falcons will host the Albright Lions on Saturday evening on Shoemaker Field for their regular season home finale at 5:00 p.m. Messiah will conclude the regular season next week with matches against Lebanon Valley and Widener.