Messiah Heads To Their Fourth Straight Final Four
Posted: 2/8/2008
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Grantham, PA -- Freshman Nick Thompson (Hudson, OH--pictured right) has scored six game winning goals this year, but none have been as big as the goal he scored tonight in Messiah's NCAA quarterfinal match.  With fifteen minutes remaining in the game, Kai Kasiguran (Oakwood Village, OH) received the ball on the right flank and crossed a ball that Thompson touched far post to beat the keeper and give the Falcons a 1-0 victory.

The Falcons claimed the Sectional Championship as well as a ticket to the NCAA Division III Final Four to be held at Disney's Wide World of Sports.  Head Coach Dave Brandt has done an amazing job with the Messiah Men's Soccer team as he has led the Falcons to an unprecedented seven out of the last eight Final Fours.   The Falcons have won the National Title the last three years in a row and have a total of 5 Championships in the last seven years.

Tonight's quarterfinal match saw two quality sides compete for a shot at moving on to the next round.  Montclair State University entered into the game on a high after having defeated NJAC rival New Jersey City University 3-2 in sudden victory overtime the night before.  The Red Hawks chose to sit back and play low pressure and attempted to be dangerous on the counter attack.  The first half was tight as MSU made it difficult for the Falcons to get behind and were determined to score on the counter or set play.  The first half ended without a score as Messiah out shot the Red Hawks 6-4.

In the second half Messiah began to find more seams and were dangerous as they created an number of scoring opportunities.  After Nick Thompson scored in the 75th minute the both the game and the sky opened up with both team getting good looks on goal as a heavy snow fell to the ground.  Both Thompson and Ben Jordan (Williamsport, MD) were in 1v1 with the keeper only to come up short.  On the other side of the pitch Montclair was pressing hard as they drew fouls and fired free kicks into the box.  With four minutes remaining in the game a MSU player took a shot that deflected off a defender and looked for sure to tie the game, but it bounced off the crossbar and was cleared away.

The victory moves the Falcons to 21-2 while the loss ends MSU's season with a final record of 19-3-1.  Messiah had 12 shots and 8 corners to the Red Hawks 9 shots and 2 corners.  Jared Clugston (Red Hill, PA) made 4 saves as he recorded the team's 17th shutout on the year.  Nick Mele was in net for MSU and also had 4 saves on the night.

The Falcons are set to play a dream semifinal match against national power Trinity University on Friday, November 23rd in Disney, FL.  This will be the first time in the history of the two storied programs that they will meet on the field.

In addition to the Messiah Men's Soccer team traveling down to Florida, the Messiah Women's Soccer team will also be in Disney as this will mark their fourth straight Final Four as well.