By Travis Galaska, GoMessiah.com reporter
Elizabethtown, PA — What started as a very scary Saturday evening for Messiah turned into a spook-tacular Halloween result Saturday night at Elizabethtown College.
Plus, there were marshmallows.
Not only did the Falcons respond from an early one-goal deficit to defeat the host Blue Jays by a 5-1 score, but they left Ira R. Herr Field — confections of the marshmallow variety in hand — with an eight-game winning streak headed into the conference playoffs.
Messiah, ranked second in both the NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 and the D3soccer.com Top 25, came into Saturday night's game riding a six-game regular-season winning streak against their conference rivals, and had not been defeated in Elizabethtown since 1995.
From the beginning, however, it looked like the Blue Jays would do whatever it took to stop those streaks. Just two minutes after the opening whistle, that determination would lead to an early lead and send the Jays supporters into a frenzy.
After pushing the ball down the field, possession ended up on the feet of E'Town freshman Javeim Blanchette on the right wing of the offensive zone. Strong defensive work by senior Calvin Todd shielded Blanchette off the ball, but the freshman Jay was undeterred, and used physical play to shoulder Todd off the ball and regain possession at the top right corner of the Falcon penalty box. From there, Blanchette dribbled straight across the box, until he had reached the top center. Two Messiah defenders closed in on him, but Blanchette dribbled right through them and down to the penalty spot, where he sent a low shot to the right post, just to the left of rushing senior keeper Jared Clugston and into the net for the all-important first goal for the Blue Jays.
“They always play with emotion against us,” said Messiah head coach Brad McCarty. “That number 11 (Blanchette) is a great player, he's going to have a great career here for the Jays.”
Blanchette's goal spelled even more trouble for McCarty's troops given the Blue Jays' remarkable results when scoring first, as Elizabethtown (14-3-1, 4-2-1) had won all 14 games in which they had done so.
Statistically speaking, it was bound to be a long evening for the Falcons.
In reality, it would take Messiah (17-1, 7-0) just 27 seconds to respond.
Right after the restart, the Falcons carried possession, and quickly pushed down the field, with the ball moving down the left wing and into the offensive zone. Junior Geoff Pezon ended up with the ball down in the left corner, and sent a beautiful cross into the penalty box. Fellow junior Nick Thompson was waiting, and jumped high in the air from about 12 yards out from the goal. Thompson met the ball and sent a brilliant chip header high over E'Town freshman keeper Eric Carr and down into the far left side of the netting, knotting the game at 1-1.
Suddenly, it was the Messiah faithful, out in droves, who let their puffy projectiles fly.
The Falcons only added to the pandemonium in the stands by tacking on another goal just over three minutes later. After gaining their first corner of the night — one of an eventual eight total — Pezon sent in a high, short cross to the near post on the right side of the field. Freshman Josh Wood, waiting on the near side of the goal box, rose up above all the Jays' defenders and sent a header across the goal mouth and just inside the far post for a resounding 2-1 lead. The Blue Jays were only left to watch the celebrations, as their quick one-goal lead had turned even quicker into a one-goal deficit.
“I'm very proud of our guys,” McCarty said. “They didn't put their heads down and responded with not one, but two goals.”
Somehow, from that point on in the half, both teams managed to put the brakes on the other side, although there were plenty of chances for each team to increase its respective tally.
In the 21st minute of the half, the Falcons carried the attack, with Pezon sending in another cross from low in the left corner. Wood was somehow again left unmarked in the penalty box and was able to get a clean header off, but sent it just wide of the far post and over the end line for a goal kick.
Four minutes later, it was the Blue Jays' turn to stop the Falcons' fans hearts for a moment. After a Messiah foul (one of the team's nine on the evening), Elizabethtown was awarded a free kick from the right corner of the offensive zone. The ball was sent in high in the air, and again it was Blanchette who would cause problems for the Falcons, raising up in the air and heading it straight down to the feet of Clugston with a point-blank header. Somehow, Clugston was able to get enough of the ball to slow it down, but not completely stop it, and it trickled through his legs and towards the goal line. Fortunately for the Falcons, senior defender Jevon Gondwe was ready and waiting, and raced cross the goal mouth to clear the ball off the line and far out of danger with a swift, powerful kick.
That nerve-wracking series ended the direst of opportunities for either team in the rest of the half, and when the siren sounded to end the period, both teams walked off the field in search of a much-needed rest following such a fast-paced opening to the game.
Once the second half started, however, it was the Falcons who parlayed their first half momentum into second-half success.
Just eight minutes into the second half, Messiah would again use a corner kick to pound in a goal. After being awarded a corner from the left side of the field, sophomore Derek Black sent in a cross to the far post, where Pezon was waiting and sent a header on goal. The ball was saved by Carr, but it bounded away and into a mass of people right in the goal mouth. Out of that group of players emerged Wood, who scrambled in to put the ball over the goal line and into the net, making the lead 3-1 in favor of the Falcons.
Although the visitors dominated the second half, both in terms of possession and chances, the Blue Jays were able to hold them scoreless until their were just eight minutes remaining in the game.
After strong offensive possession, the Falcons were awarded yet another corner kick, this time from the right side of the field. Pezon stepped over to send in the cross, and sent another perfect ball into the mixer, where, somehow, Wood was again able to get a clean look, this time from the top of the goal box. He rose up and sent a strong header past a new Jays keeper, sophomore Andy Barnes, and into the center of the net, extending the score to 4-1.
To close up the scorebooks, the Falcons tallied one more goal with five minutes remaining. After taking a pass from Wood, Nick Thompson dribbled straight through the middle of the Blue Jays defense to the top of the penalty box, where the last Jays' defender momentarily separated Thompson from the ball. Thompson got around the defender and regained possession on the left side of the penalty box, and sent a low lining shot past the outstretched keeper and into the right side of the net to make the final score 5-1 for the Falcons.
For a few Messiah players, this was quite a night to remember. Pezon ended up with four assists on the night, tying the school's single season record with 14 assists on the year, and leaving himself just four shy of the career mark of 35 set by the renowned Dave Brandt. Wood, meanwhile, continued to carve a name for himself as a Falcon, notching his fourth straight multi-goal game and second career hat trick in just his fourth start up top for the Falcons.
The win was also a first for McCarty, his first “Marshmallow Cup” victory as head coach of the Messiah men's team.
“It's always a treat to compete against a storied program like Elizabethtown, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary of their NCAA Championship,” McCarty said.
With the win, the Falcons take their eight-game winning streak into the Commonwealth Conference Tournament, with their semi-final matchup coming at home against Lebanon Valley College, a team which the Falcons beat by the score of 5-0 when the teams squared off Oct. 13 in Grantham.
“As a team, we try to continue to get better as the season goes on, from pre-season to regular-season to the post-season,” McCarty said.
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, return the MAC playoffs as well after a down year last season, taking their third-seed on the road to Arcadia University, a replay of a tough defensive battle earlier in the season which the Blue Jays lost 1-0 on a penalty kick in the first half.
Both league playoff games are slated for Wednesday. Messiah will host the Dutchmen at 7 p.m. on Shoemaker Field. Admission for all Commonwealth Conference post-season games is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students. Children under the age of six are admitted free of charge.
