No. 1 Messiah 3, No. 10 Montclair State 1
GRANTHAM, Pa. -- In a battle of two unbeaten, No. 1 Messiah scored three times to defeat No. 10 Montclair State on a rain-soaked Saturday evening on Shoemaker Field. The Falcons received two goals from Joshua Wood as both teams battled against the steady rainfall.
Jeremy Payne opened the scoring for Messiah after exactly nine minutes of play. Mike Kovach gathered a long cross from the midfield and played the ball back to the net from the right side, with Payne leaping from the middle of the box to head the ball inside the left post.
Wood added the first of his tallies a few minutes later after some brilliant passing from his teammates. Payne started the action with an attack into the left side of the midfield, slotting a ball to Myer on his run to the top of the 18-yard line. Myer then squared to the right and touched forward before dropping a short pass through the Red Hawks' defense to Wood. The senior found himself with an open look at Kevin Lynch and the goal, firing over the keeper to double the Messiah lead.
In the second half, the Falcons wouldn't wait long before creating another score for Wood. This time, Jack Thompson was played square across the top of the 18 before finding Wood on a slot to the right side. A quick strike by Wood went in-between a defender and Lynch—with Lynch deflecting the ball—and inside the far post for a 3-0 advantage.
Despite falling further behind, the Red Hawks kept their fight and scored less than two minutes later on a header by Ryan Morris. He was played on a short serve from Terci from the right corner and tucked his shot inside the near post before West had time to react.
West finished with four saves for the Falcons as Messiah limited the No. 7-ranked scoring offense to just nine total shots—a season-low for a Red Hawks' team that was also averaging 4.0 goals per game.
Messiah launched 24 shots of its own with Lynch making three saves.
With the win, Messiah also moves to 5-0 all-time against Montclair, including recent wins in the 2007, 2008, and 2010 NCAA tournaments.
No. 2 Ohio Wesleyan 2, Baldwin Wallace 1
DELAWARE, Ohio -- Sophomore midfielder Brian Schaefer and junior midfielder Colton Bloecher scored goals that erased a 1-0 deficit and gave second-ranked Ohio Wesleyan a non-conference win against Baldwin Wallace on Saturday at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.
The Yellow Jackets took the lead exactly 10 minutes into the game. Aaron Harden hit a shot from the left side that struck the crossbar and bounced downward before Bishop keeper Colin Beemiller snared it and was able to clear. The referee originally signaled for play to continue, but after consulting with the assistant, signaled that the ball had crossed the line and awarded the goal.
The Bishops evened the game in the 32nd minute when senior midfielder Paolo Bucci sent the ball ahead to Schaefer, whose 25-yard shot found the back of the Yellow Jacket net.
Baldwin Wallace had a good look at breaking the tie early in the second half when Ben Deighton's pass freed Harden for a one-on-one break on Beemiller, but Harden sent his shot over the Bishop goal.
Ohio Wesleyan enjoyed the edge in play for most of the second half, hammering shot after shot at the Yellow Jacket goal, but Beaton made save upon save in preserving the deadlock.
The Bishops took the lead with 26:04 left in regulation time when Lee sent the ball ahead to Bloecher, who sent a shot from the left side across the goal mouth and inside the right post, with a late-charging Baldwin Wallace defender unable to deflect the ball away from the goal.
Ohio Wesleyan outshot Baldwin Wallace 38-13. Beemiller had one save for Ohio Wesleyan. Beaton finished with 13 saves in the Yellow Jacket goal.
No. 3 Amherst 1, No. 17 Williams 0
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -– Max Fikke netted the game winner with just 4:31 remaining in the second overtime to lift third-ranked Amherst to a 1-0 win against No. 17 Williams.
Extending their unbeaten streak to 26 games dating back to last season, the Jeffs improved to 5-0-1 (2-0-1 NESCAC) in 2013, while the Ephs dropped to 3-2-0 (1-2-0).
The game started off at a fast pace and at the 16th minute, Christopher Martin posted the first strong attempt of the game. Fikke lofted a long throw-in into the Williams box that rolled untouched across the face of the goal and was just barely cleared by Dan Lima as Martin missed out on an early scoring opportunity.
Thirty minutes later, the Jeffs put together a series of strong scoring threats. In the 43rd minute, Fikke launched a ball out of the midfield to Bubba Van Wie who sent one right to the net but was saved by Ephs’ goalie Peter Morrell.
Williams picked up their offensive play in the second half and put together a strong scoring opportunity in the 58th minute but was broken up by the Jeffs’ defense. Ten minutes later, the Ephs had another great chance created by a long throw-in by Malcolm Mouteno that fell at junior Nathan Miller’s feet. His shot bounced off a Jeff defender and rebounded to Chris Seitz who just missed wide left. Both team’s played stellar defense the remaining minutes of regulation to force a first overtime.
In that first overtime period, Williams put a shot on goal at the 93rd minute but Amherst retaliated two minutes later as Nico Pascual-Leone’s ’16 attempt on net was saved. In the last minute of play, the Jeffs had their best scoring opportunity of the game when Martin showcased some great footwork and dribbling skills to sail a cross onto the goal post where Pascual-Leone stood. The rebound went to the sophomore who connected on a header but was stopped on a great play from Morrell.
Fikke’s goal finally came at the 106th minute in double overtime, slotting the ball under the arms of the Ephs goalkeeper. Amherst outshot Williams 21 to 15 with 11 of those shots on goal to Williams' three. Amherst also had six corners to Williams' four.
Houghton 1, No. 5 Stevens Institute 0
HOBOKEN, N.J. -- A disciplined team performance and key contributions from two freshman propelled the Highlanders to a 1-0 upset of No. 5 ranked Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday.
It was the fourth-consecutive shutout for the Highlanders and kept them undefeated (5-0-1) on the year.
Houghton played patient, disciplined soccer in the opening 45 minutes and broke through with a goal in the 38th minute. Freshman Mitch Beattie picked up a loose ball in the box and put his shot past the keeper to give the Highlanders a 1-0 lead.
The hosts upped the pressure in the second half and especially in the final 15 minutes, but the Highlanders were up to the task and turned away each attack by the Ducks.
Freshman keeper Jacob Dunnett was strong in goal, with four saves, including three diving stops.
Stevens (5-1-1) had a 20-8 advantage in shots and 14-5 edge in corners.
No. 6 Rutgers-Camden 4, Rutgers-Newark 3
NEWARK, N.J. -- Rutgers-Camden scored two goals in the final 14:25 of regulation to tie the game and then stunned Rutgers-Newark with a goal by sophomore forward Mike Ryan only 47 seconds into the first overtime to capture a 4-3 victory on Saturday night. The game was the New Jersey Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
The Scarlet Raptors, who entered the game ranked No. 6 in the NSCAA poll, overcame a 3-1 deficit to raise their record to 9-0 overall and 1-0 in the NJAC. They extended their program records with a 9-0 start, a nine-game winning streak and a 21-game unbeaten streak (18-0-3) during two seasons.
The Scarlet Raptors jumped on the board first, in record-setting fashion. Senior midfielder Mitch Grotti headed in a cross from Ryan at 8:54.
Newark tied the game a few minutes later on a header by junior forward Raphael Araujo, assisted by freshman midfielder Anthony DeRisi.
Araujo struck again at 17:31 with a 30-yard bullet for his 15th goal of the season, and added another tally at 22:35 when senior forward Daniel Naranjo finished off his sixth goal of the season.
The Scarlet Raptors sliced the gap to 3-2 with 14:25 remaining in the game on a 25-yard shot to the right side of the net by junior defender Joe Auleta.
It didn’t take long for the Raptors to notch the tying goal. Less than five minutes later, sophomore midfielder Connor Hurff took a corner kick, resulting in a loose ball in the box that ended up on the foot of senior midfielder Keegan Balle. Balle finished the play with his second goal of the year.
The Raptors’ quick strike in overtime started after senior midfielder Stevan Austino carried the ball down the right side and sent a cross to the middle, where the ball bounced off a Scarlet Raider defender. Ryan was on the receiving end of the rebound to drill home his ninth goal of the season and his fourth game-winning tally.
The Scarlet Raptors held a 20-13 edge in shots and a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks. Senior Mike Randall made nine saves in the Raptor goal, while sophomore Matt Broomall had six saves for the Scarlet Raiders, who were also helped by a key backsave.
No. 7 Pacific Lutheran 1, George Fox 0
NEWBERG, Ore. –- Taylor Jackson picked a fine time to score his first Pacific Lutheran goal, knocking in the game-winner off a corner kick in the final minute of regulation to lead seventh-ranked PLU to a Northwest Conference victory against George Fox Saturday afternoon.
The Lutes' program-best season-opening undefeated streak extends to seven matches with the win as PLU's record improves to 6-0-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play. George Fox falls to 1-6 overall and 0-1 in the NWC.
As the seconds ticked away toward a potential second consecutive overtime contest, Diego Aceves lined up for a corner kick with less than a minute remaining in regulation. Aceves' corner found Jackson in position for the shot, and the PLU defender knocked it in at the 89:26 mark – a mere 34 seconds left to play.
A 22-14 shot advantage for PLU appeared as if it might go for naught late in the second half as the teams maintained dueling shutouts. Joe Rayburn played all 90 minutes in goal for the Lutes, tallying four saves to earn the shutout. Luke Ridder took the tough-luck loss for George Fox, yielding only Jackson's goal while saving five shot attempts.
Thomas More 2, No. 9 Ohio Northern 1
CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. -- Junior midfielder Dexter Morgan found the back of the net in the 100th minute to propel Thomas More to a 2-1 overtime win against eighth-ranked Ohio Northern Saturday in a non-conference match at The Bank of Kentucky Field in Crestview Hills, Ky.
With the win, the Saints improve to 4-2 and with the loss, the Polar Bears fall to 6-2.
ONU took a 1-0 lead at the 58:29 mark when Jeremy Barnes scored on a penalty kick. Thomas More tied the match at 1-1 at the 72:37 mark when senior midfielder Jack Little scored off a cross from freshman defender RJ Best.
At the 99:02 mark in the first overtime Morgan scored the Saints' game-winning goal unassisted.
Junior goalkeeper Matt Kees played all 99:02 in goal and allowed one goal, while recording two saves.
Thomas More out-shot the Polar Bears 19-5 including 9-3 on-goal. The Saints also won the battle of corner kicks, 12-4.
