CHESTER, Pa. – The No. 2 Messiah men's soccer team overcame an early 1-0 deficit against the Widener Pride on Saturday afternoon to conclude the regular season with a 3-2 victory. With the win, Messiah clinches the top seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament that will begin for the Falcons on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 6:00 p.m. on Shoemaker Field against the winner of the Play-In Game that will take place on Monday evening.
 
The Pride got on the board in the 12th minute, but Messiah responded with a Luke Brautigam equalizer in the 27th minute to level the match at 1-1 heading into the break.
 
After the half, Matt McDonald found the back of the net off a rebound from a Ben Vollmer shot to give Messiah a 2-1 lead in the 56th minute. Stefan Leitzel added some much needed insurance in the 66th minute off a scramble in front. Widener scored a free-kick goal with just minutes to go, but Messiah was able to hold on for the 3-2 victory.
 
With the win, Messiah concludes the regular season with an overall record of 17-0-1 and a perfect, 8-0-0 record in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
How It Happened
As mentioned, Widener was first on the board with a tally from Sean Fatiga in the 12th minute a bit against the run of play. Messiah had attempted the first three shots of the match, but Fatiga put Widener in the driver's seat.
 
The Falcons would respond in the 27th minute with Matt McDonald sending a beautiful cross to Luke Barutigam for the equalizer. The tally was just the third of the season for Brautigam and his first since the middle of September against Salisbury (Sept. 17).
 
Messiah had the better looks in the opening half, attempting 11 shots against two for the Pride, but the score was tied heading to the second half.
 
After the break, Messiah built their lead to 3-1 with tallies from Matt McDonald and Stefan Leitzel. McDonald connected in the 56th minute, hammering a rocket past the keeper. McDonald ran onto a rebound from a Ben Vollmer shot that found the back of the net for his team-leading 19th goal of the season.
 
In the 66th minute, Stefan Letizel was awarded a goal after a scramble in front of the goalmouth saw the goal just trickle over the goal line. The insurance tally from Letizel turned out to be huge for the Falcons as Widener scored in the final minutes off a free kick from just outside the box.
 
The late goal resulted in a 3-2 Messiah victory and marked the first time since Sept. 3 against Lynchburg that a Messiah opponent had netted more than one goal in a match.
 
What's Up Next
As mentioned, the Falcons have earned the top seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Tournament. The Falcons will host the winner of the Play-In Game on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 6:00 p.m. on Shoemaker Field in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal.