Second half surge pushes Messiah past Knights, 3-0

Grantham, Pa.: The No. 2 Messiah College Falcons played host to Arcadia University in tonight's Commonwealth Conference men's soccer battle. Following a scoreless first half, and a well-played one for Arcadia, the Falcons earned three second half scores to hand the Knights their first loss of the season in league play, a 3-0 final at Shoemaker Field.

Arcadia sophomore keeper Ryan Lantzy (Pheonixville, PA/Pheonixville) was tested four times over the first half and each time Messiah came up empty. Returning all-conference sophomore Mike Cahill (Bensalem, PA/Bensalem) of Arcadia turned a touch into a shot at 16:12, forcing Falcon keeper Jake Berry into a save and the Knights used a fresh rotation of substitutes to keep pace with nation's number one team, who headed into this contest undefeated through their first 11 games. Messiah out-shot the Knights 10-1 in the opening half, but Arcadia showed just enough pressure to keep the game scoreless at the half.

Messiah did everything right to open the second half of play but couldn't stick one in. For the first seven minutes the home team held the momentum and were finally rewarded at 52:26 with a corner kick they turned into a 1-0 lead. Jack Thompson serviced the attempt into the corner of the 6 where Derrick Black was waiting. Black headed the cross and beat Lantzy at the post putting the Falcons on the board seven minutes into the second half.

Arcadia immediately turned up the pressure after the Messiah score, pushing forward through the midfield while working diligently in the backfield. Messiah nearly made it 2-0 when Brain Ramirez caught Lantzy off his line but just missed wide. Both teams continued to use their bench personel and when Messiah's Danny Thompson re-entered the game in the 75th minute, less than a minute later, he did make it a 2-0 Falcon lead, converting on a pass from his brother Jack at 75:42. A foul in the box on the Knights set the stage for Thompson again, right-footing his penalty kick to the right corner past Lantzy less than a minute later, giving Messiah a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Josh Wood nearly made it 4-0 Falcons but the play was called off-sides as the ball sailed into the net. Arcadia had one last opportunity come their way but came up empty on a goal-kick with 1:28 remaining and settled for the 3-0 loss.

Messiah (11-0-1, 2-0 CC) out-shot Arcadia (6-6, 1-1 CC) 21-2 and earned the 8-0 advantage in corner attempts. Lantzy finished with 5 stops in the loss for Arcadia with Berry registering one save for the victors.

The Knights look to improve in the conference standings with two games on tap for the upcoming week, traveling for a mid-week 7 p.m. game at Widener on Oct. 11 before hosting Lycoming at home on Oct. 15 as part of Family Weekend. Saturday's game will begin at 3 p.m. on the New Field.

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