Messiah Belies Experience, Knocks Out Wheaton 4-0
Posted: 8/30/2008
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Head coach Dave Brandt called sophomore Nick Thompson a "rock" in the midfield against Wheaton.

Wheaton, IL — Prior to Saturday’s finale at the Bob Baptista Invitational, Messiah head men’s soccer coach Dave Brandt said his team would have to grow up fast in order to compete with a team the caliber of Wheaton College.

Consider the Falcons early bloomers.

Fourth-ranked Messiah scored three times in the game’s first 35 minutes en route to a 4-0 win over the host Thunder Saturday evening, coming out of a two-day Chicago swing unscathed and — hopefully — more mature. With eight of Messiah’s nine total goals scored by underclassmen, Brandt said he was more than pleased to collect two wins in the first 24 hours of 2008.

“This was a really good trip for us,” Brandt said following the victory over Wheaton. “I thought that our younger players rose to the occasion. Playing away from home, on artificial turf and against a team as good as Wheaton is, I knew we’d have to grow up quickly. I thought our effort as a whole was very good both tonight and Friday. We still have a long, long way to go, but this is a good start.”

Sophomore Geoff Pezon helped the Falcons’ cause just 15:39 seconds into Saturday’s match, tallying his fourth goal of the weekend on a 23-yard rocket to the far post. As Messiah (2-0) and Wheaton (1-1) traded possession throughout the half, it was freshman Tom Renko that broke into the scoring column at the 27:32 mark, taking a low cross from junior Brett Faro and placing a one touch into the back of the Thunder’s net for a 2-0 advantage.

Faro was directly involved in Messiah’s third goal less than seven minutes later, sending a high cross into the box that was headed into the frame by sophomore Nick Thompson.

With 1,733 spectators looking on, a rematch of the 2006 NCAA Division III National Championship had taken a decidedly Falcons’ flavor.

“This was a fairly evenly played game,” Brandt said. “We just were able to finish some of our chances and they weren’t. Wheaton is a very, very good team that will do big things this year. On another day, this could have easily gone the other way.”

Messiah recorded a total 17 shots on goal to Wheaton’s 15, a statistic split evenly — nine shots apiece — in the second half. As the Thunder pressed in an attempt to get on the board, Brandt’s club took advantage of a counter attack in the 84th minute. Junior Calvin Todd fired a rope that was deflected off Wheaton’s keeper, only for the ball to land at the feet of — naturally — Pezon. Perhaps the easiest of his five goals on the weekend, Pezon calmly tapped the ball into the back of the net to provide the final score at the 84:16 point.

Junior Jared Clugston was credited for the shut out in goal, coming up with a total six saves including a pair that Brandt classified as “truly great” to keep Wheaton off the board after Messiah was up 3-0. Faro finished with two assists on the evening, while Thompson and the youth movement earned praise from Brandt afterward.

“Nick was really a rock in the midfield for us, but all of our guys really stepped up tonight,” he said. “We’re so young, I was very interested to see how we’d respond to this. It was difficult for us to keep the gas pedal down in the second half, they had the better of the ball and the better of us, but it was definitely a great effort on our end.”

Saturday’s contest marked the fourth win over Wheaton in the last five years for the Falcons, as the team dealt the Thunder a 1-0 defeat last year at Shoemaker Field. Messiah won the ’06 championship by virtue of a 3-0 score, while Brandt kept his undefeated coaching record in tact against one of the Messiah’s most respected rivals.

The club will return to campus Sunday before enjoying a rare week off, returning to the competitive field next Saturday to face Wilkes University in the home opener. Game time is set for 7 p.m.