XML Box Score Grantham, PA – Messiah College played to a scoreless tie through 110 minutes on Wednesday with Lycoming College, and eventually fell 5-4 in penalty kicks in a stunning Commonwealth Semifinal decision. The Falcons outshot the Warriors 32-2 in the game but placed just seven shots on goal before falling in the shootout.
Justin Walker gave the Warriors a 5-4 advantage on the seventh round of shots, with
Jack Thompson's next shot darting wide of the goal to give Lycoming the decision. Moments earlier,
Jeremy Payne missed the Falcons' fifth shot which would have given them a 4-3 decision of their own.
Messiah falls to 18-1-1 with the tie and will be unable to defend their seven-straight Commonwealth Conference Championships. They will have to wait for the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 11, to see if they will be selected for the NCAA Championships Tournament.
Lycoming moves to 10-7-3 and will travel to Elizabethtown College on Saturday, Nov. 9 to play in the conference final. For the Warriors, the decision over Messiah is their first since earning a 1-0 win in November of 1999—ironically, in the conference semifinals.
"Lycoming played well tonight," Messiah head coach
Brad McCarty said, reflecting on the game. "They were hungry. I think they wanted it more than we did and I think that's my responsibility as the coach. I didn't have the team ready tonight."
In the first-half the Falcons attempted nine shots, none of which went on frame. Playing against the Warriors' shell defense, with oftentimes all 10 men in the Falcons' attacking third, Messiah struggled to take advantage of their few opportunities to get an early goal.
"In the first-half, we didn't get a single shot on goal," said McCarty, commenting on the Falcons' failure to take advantage early. "We talked about that at halftime and I think we played better after that. But to not take advantage early—that allowed (Lycoming) to fuel belief.
"They came ready to work hard. They were committed to defending and they did a good job."
Though struggling at times to work through the Warriors' defense, Messiah did attempt 23 more shots in the second-half and overtime sessions. Connor Keenan saved seven shots overall, including six in the second-half. The Falcons also were unfortunate on two that his the crossbar, one each by
Joshua Wood and
Jeremy Payne. Wood's offering came in the 81st minute off a corner from
Brian Ramirez. His one-touch volley from eight yards out in front of the goal went off the top of the crossbar and to the ground before being cleared out.
Payne's shot came even closer. Off another corner from Ramirez—this time with just 30 seconds left in the second overtime—Payne leaped on the six-yard line for a header that looked like it would be the game-winner. But in improbable fashion, the shot hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced straight down and off the goal line, never crossing into he goal, before being cleared out.
That last opportunity set up the penalty kick shootout, which Lycoming started with a made shot from Adam Kuntz.
Brian Ramirez followed for Messiah and missed high, but
Brandon West saved the Warriors' next shot from Moises Lazo.
Josh Kremers then tied the shootout at 1-1 before the two teams traded a pair of made shots.
On Lycoming fifth attempt Keenan missed left to set up a potential clinching shot from
Jeremy Payne. His attempt went high, however, sending the shootout into sudden death. Connor McNiff and
Danny Brandt each made the teams' sixth shots, setting up Justin Walker's made attempt. Thompson's ensuing miss set off a wild celebration from the Warriors' players and fans.
"I asked our players to pick their spot and not worry about the goalkeeper," McCarty said, giving insight to his comments to the Messiah shooters. "We needed to execute and we didn't. (Lycoming) did."
The missed opportunities and missed penalty kicks all added up to the Falcons' first loss in the Commonwealth Championships Tournament since 2006.
"One of the things I told the guys after tonight was that this is challenge for us," said McCarty. "We hope that our body of work will garner us an at-large bid (to the NCAAs) but, that being said, we wouldn't play a game for a really long time.
"This loss hurts, but we can't mourn it now because we'll have to meet the challenge of not playing again for a while."
As mentioned, Messiah will now wait until Monday's NCAA Selection Show to see if they will be given an opportunity to defend their National Championship from a year ago.
