Centennial Homecoming Soccer Games Postponed
Posted: 10/17/2009
Standing water throughout Shoemaker Field forced administrators to make the unpopular decision Saturday.

Grantham, PA — Four straight days of rain have turned Shoemaker Field into a virtual quagmire, forcing Messiah College athletics administration to postpone Saturday’s Centennial Homecoming men’s and women’s soccer games against Arcadia University.

The men’s game will now be played Monday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. while the women will face the Knights Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. Both games will be played on Shoemaker Field.

“The field is currently in unplayable condition,” said Messiah director of athletics Jerry Chaplin, in a statement released Saturday morning. “The impact of playing on a field in the current condition could be significant in terms of the remaining games on our schedule as well as possibly doing so much damage that the field would need significant out-of-season attention to make it a good surface again. We regret that (the decision to postpone the games) has to be made. We appreciate everyone’s understanding.”

The decision to postpone Saturday’s soccer games comes perhaps on Messiah’s busiest day of the year, as the institution is in the midst of celebrating its 100th year of existence.

Over 1,500 athletics alumni had pre-registered to take part in an athletics march to Shoemaker Field prior to Saturday’s men’s game. Messiah’s department of alumni and parent relations said that while the march is cancelled, the athletics reception will continue as planned.

Chaplin said that administrators waited until 9 a.m. Saturday morning to make the call regarding the soccer games, citing the significance of Homecoming Weekend.

“Had this been any other weekend, we would have postponed the games Friday,” Chaplin said in the statement. “However, because it is Homecoming, we were committed to waiting as long as we could to make the final call.”

Persistent rains coupled with chilling winds have made for a miserable stretch of days in Grantham, as Saturday’s forecast calls for even more rain changing over to snow this evening.

Saturday’s announcement is the first known soccer postponement on a Homecoming Weekend in school history. Messiah’s last soccer postponement of any kind came, ironically, against Arcadia, as the Falcons’ men’s team cited unplayable field conditions in October of 2006. That game was never re-scheduled.