GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah men's soccer team was selected to host the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament after the Falcons claimed the MAC Commonwealth Championship last weekend. The Falcons will welcome three teams to Grantham for this weekend's First and Second Round matches. The Franciscan Barons, Williams Ephs, and NYU Violets will head to south-central Pennsylvania this weekend with the Falcons taking on Franciscan in the First Round on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Williams and NYU will square off in the other First Round game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
 
Saturday's winners will meet on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. in the NCAA Second Round with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.

Fans should note that since this is an NCAA Tournament event, tickets are required for all fans. The pricing for tickets are as follows: Adults: $6, Senior Citizens - $3, Students (valid ID) - $3, and Children - $2, Children under 3 – FREE.
 
See below for a quick preview of the four teams competing in the first two rounds at Messiah.
 

No. 1 Messiah University Falcons

 
The nation's highest-scoring offense, Messiah has rolled through nearly every opponent they have faced this season. The Falcons have scored 87 goals on the year, already their sixth most in a single season in program history. Across 20 games that has leveled out to an average of 4.35 goals per game. The defense hasn't been too shabby either, checking in as the 18th best scoring defense in the country with a .60 goals against average.
 
Messiah claimed the MAC Commonwealth Championship last weekend for the 20th time in program history with a 5-0 victory over the Widener Pride. Cole Cristian scored twice in the opening five minutes of the match to be named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player.
 
Players to Watch
    #21 Matt McDonald – 21 goals, 6 assists, 48 points, 4 game-winning goals, 85 shots
    #11 Ben Lefever – 9 goals, 11 assists, 29 points, 3 game-winning goals, 45 shots
    #8 Cole Cristian – 8 goals, 8 assists, 24 points, 2 game-winning goals, 42 shots
    #5 Luke Groothoff – 6 goals, 5 assists, 17 points, 33 shots
 

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Franciscan University Barons

Making their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Franciscan Barons enter the NCAA Tournament as winners of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. The Barons earned a 2-1 victory over Bethany in the Conference Championship Game to clinch their first Conference Title in program history. Their victory over Bethany in the PAC Championship at home avenged their loss to them last season in the Conference Championship Game.
 
Nick Miller leads the Barons with 23 points with nine goals and five assists. Jax Mautone has started in all 20 games as the goalkeeper, as he has recorded seven shutouts while saving 91 shots.
 
Players to Watch
    #19 Nick Miller – 9 goals, 5 assists, 23 points, 53 shots
    #10 Jonathan Schriner – 7 goals, 6 assists, 20 points, 2 game-winning goals, 50 shots
    #1 Jax Mautone – 1.31 GAA, 91 saves, 0.778 save percentage, 12-3-5 record
 
History Against Messiah
The Falcons and Barons have never met in men's soccer.
 

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Williams College Ephs

No one in the country was more impacted by the overtime rule change than the Williams Ephs. The Ephs only lost one game this season, falling to the defending National Champion Connecticut College Camels, however they earned just six victories in the 2022 campaign. The other 10 matches they played this season ended in a draw. Playing in one of the toughest conferences in the country, the Ephs went toe-to-toe with some of the top teams but the majority of those matches ended level.

Williams scored just 20 goals on the season, ranking 304th in the country on the year. Will Felitto leads the team with three goals and is the lone Eph with more than two tallies on the year. While their offense has not generated a lot, their defense has been stellar. The Ephs have allowed just nine goals for a 0.516 goals against average, the 11th best mark in the country. Between the pipes, Ben Diffley has made 67 saves and owns a 0.882 save percentage.

Players to Watch
    #6 Nick Boardman – 1 goal, 5 assits, 7 points, 12 shots
    #2 Nathan Song – 2 goals, 1 assist, 5 points, 27 shots
    #30 Ben Diffley – 0.53 GAA, 0.882 save percentage, 67 saves, 6-1-10 record

History Against Messiah
The Falcons and Ephs have met four times all-time. The Falcons lead the all-time series, 2-1-1 with their last meeting coming on Dec. 6, 2013 in the National Semifinals. Messiah won that match 4-0 on their way to a National Championship. All four of the meetings between the Falcons and Ephs have come in the NCAA Tournament (1993, 2006, 2009, 2013).
 

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New York University Violets

The New York University Violets earned their trip to the NCAA Tournament via an at-large bid after a strong season in the United Athletic Association (UAA). Playing in one of the toughest conferences in the country, the Violets put together a 4-1-2 record in conference play and a 9-4-3 mark overall. Highlighting there season was a 0-0 draw against the University of Chicago, then the No. 1 team in the nation. They also picked up a 2-0 victory over No. 8 Carnegie Mellon in early October while also facing tough tests against No. 2 Messiah (2-1 loss) and No. 11 Stevens (2-1 loss).

As a team, they have scored 38 goals while allowing 13 on the season. All 13 of those goals allowed came in an eight-game stretch in the middle of the season. In total they have shut their opponents out nine times. Arken Tahsildaroglu leads the offense with eight goals and nine assists while three other Violets have found the back of the net at least five times this season.
 
Players to Watch
    #9 Arken Tahsildaroglu – 8 goals, 9 assists, 25 points, 65 shots, 5 game-winning goals
    #29 Joe Leslie – 8 goals, 1 assist, 17 points, 36 shots
    #21 Luca Mancuso – 0.94 GAA, 0.787 save percentage, 48 saves, 8-4-2 record

History Against Messiah
Messiah and NYU have met three other times including once this season. The Falcons own a 3-0-0 all-time record against the Violets while outscoring NYU 7-2 in their previous meetings. Earlier this season, Messiah earned a 2-1 victory over the Violets on Shoemaker Field on Sept. 24. Matt McDonald scored the fastest goal to start a match in Messiah history, netting a tally 21 seconds into the game while Trevor Swartz scored the game winner in the 76th minute. Bryce Lexow scored for the Violets.
 

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