READING, Pa. – The No. 1 Messiah men's soccer team scored once in each half against the Albright Lions on Saturday night to claim a 2-0 victory to open the MAC Commonwealth season. Josh Bratager scored in the 34th minute off a feed from Ben Lefever to get the Falcons on the board and in the 56th minute, Matt McDonald converted a penalty kick goal to give Messiah some insurance. The 2-0 victory improves the Falcons to 9-0-1 on the season and begins conference play with a 1-0 mark.
 
The Falcons outshot the Lions 22-3 in the contest, sending eight attempts on frame against just one from Albright. The Falcons will be back in action on Tuesday evening when they travel to Penn State Harrisburg to take on the Nittany Lions in a non-conference match at 7:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons put heavy and consistent pressure on the Lions throughout Saturday night's match, resulting in 22 shots with eight on frame across the 90-minute match. Messiah was able to capitalize with a goal in each half to earn the 2-0 victory to begin the 2023 conference slate. After three Messiah shots were saved in the first 20 minutes of play, the Falcons were unable to put a shot on frame in the next 13 minutes. However in the 34th minute, Isaac Schmitke took possession away from the Lions in the midfield and found Ben Lefever down the right side. Lefever made a nice right-footed first touch to elude his defender and get in on the keeper. With Lefever closing in on goal, the keeper came off his line to cut down the angle. A quick pass to the middle of the box found Josh Bratager for the one-time shot into a wide open net for a 1-0 lead.
 
The goal was Bratager's third of the season while the assist was Lefever's third helper of the year as well.
 
Messiah took their 1-0 into the break, but continued their pressure in the second half.
 
In the 56th minute, Jarec Morlote held possession at the top of the box. A nifty turn got him in on goal, but a reach from a trailing defender brought him down before he could attempt a strike. A penalty kick was award to the Falcons. Matt McDonald stepped to the spot and hammered home the penalty to give Messiah the 2-0 lead.
 
The Falcons had three shots on goal turned away over the final half hour, but in the end earned the 2-0 victory to begin MAC Commonwealth play.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be on the road this Tuesday when they travel to Penn State Harrisburg to take on the Nittany Lions in a non-conference match at 7:00 p.m. The Falcons and Nittany Lions have played a two, 1-0 matches in their only two meetings in 2019 and 2021. The Falcons earned a victory in 2019 while the Nittany Lions won 1-0 in 2021, both meetings were played in Middletown.