Falcons Get Through Chic-Fil-A Classic Unblemished, Beat VWC 2-1
Posted: 9/12/2009
Box Score | More Men's Soccer news
Junior Geoff Pezon carded his second goal of the year on this PK, then scored in the field just over 15 minutes later.

By Travis Galaska, GoMessiah.com reporter
Virginia Beach, VA — Just because a team isn’t ranked in the NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 poll doesn’t mean they can’t be a threat, especially when playing in front of a capacity crowd on their own pitch.

Just ask the Virginia Wesleyan College men’s soccer team how close they came to pulling off a big upset.

In a hard fought match back on the muddy confines of Foster Field, Messiah was able to work its “special teams” to near-perfection tonight, getting two goals off of set pieces, while playing just the right amount of defense to stay one step ahead of the Marlins in a 2-1 win in the finale of the two-day Virginia Wesleyan Chic-Fil-A Classic.

Saturday’s tilt was a slugfest until the very end, with each team seemingly trading back and forth possessions in their attacking third, then fighting like mad to get back on defense against the quick counterattacks worked by both offenses.

Messiah — ranked atop the aforementioned national poll — had the best look on goal first in the game, when sophomore Danny Thompson used a nifty heel pass to get the ball past a couple VWC defenders and to junior Geoff Pezon at the top of the penalty box. From there, Pezon took a few dribbles and sent a cross to the left side of the box, where sophomore Kent Ramirez blasted a one-time shot right on goal, but it was right at VWC sophomore keeper Ryan Zmuda, who punched and then caught the absolute rocket of a shot.

Possession would filter back and forth, with Virginia Wesleyan (3-1-1) getting a few decent looks on net, but repeatedly pushing shots wide. The Falcons’ next-best opportunity would come in the 25th minute, when Pezon would get a good look of his own, this time on a free kick from 35 yards. He blasted a scorcher of a shot, with a slight draw bringing the ball from left to right toward the goal, but it was just not enough, as the ball clipped off the left upper ninety and went wide.

It was at this point that the Marlins would get some of their best chances of the evening, starting in the 34th minute, when senior Brandon Massie got open in the penalty box and was able to get a clean header off, but sent it just high of the goal mouth.

Just two minutes later, VWC’s defense played a ball over the top, and freshman Zanunu Williams raced to meet it as it settled just inside the penalty box on the right side. In an attempt to prevent a one-on-one situation, senior goalkeeper Jared Clugston raced off his line to try and smother the ball before Williams could reach it. In the race for the ball, Williams beat Clugston by half a step, and was able to sneak a chip shot just over the sliding keeper.

With the ball bounding toward the left side of Messiah’s goal, there was only one defensive figure close enough to stop it. Freshman defender Luke Helmuth, who had recently come on as a substitute, made a mad dash to try and meet the ball before it crossed the goal line. With one bounce left before it made the net, Helmuth was able to deftly redirect it with a sky-high boot to the left and over the endline, resulting merely in a VWC corner and not the all-important opening goal which the Marlin faithful were anticipating.

With this dramatic play in the books, the final 10 minutes of the half were spent seemingly as a cool down, with both teams trading possession in the midfield and no real offensive chances for either side. The teams remained deadlocked at nil, thanks to some strong play by the Messiah back line.

“They have two tremendous forwards,” said Messiah head coach Brad McCarty. “They are strong and fast, and they have great interplay together. (Junior) Jon Burke and (senior) Trey Overholt are the men of the match for being able to shut them down.”

As the Falcons have been known to do this season, they came out in the second half with their offensive guns blazing.

After Clugston made two back-to-back saves on the Messiah endline to open up the period, the Falcons took over offensively. In the 56th minute, Pezon was able to get open in the box and one-timed a shot, but it went right on Zmuda. One minute later, Overholt would get in on the action, firing a low shot from distance, but this one also went right at Zmuda, who made the save — one of seven on the evening.

All the offensive possession would not go for nothing for the Falcons, however, as just five minutes later freshman JP Fulton received a pass down the sideline. Fulton — making his second collegiate start — cut in toward the Marlin penalty box, beating his man with the ball. A final Marlins defender stuck out a foot in a last-ditch attempt to dispossess Fulton, but the effort was egregious in nature: The entire Foster Field Complex could hear the thwack as foot meet shin guard, and Fulton was sent sprawling along the turf, causing the referee to blow his whistle and raise his arm directly at the penalty spot.

After a raucous appeal from VWC and a very brief discussion between linesman and referee, the crew determined the foul had in fact occurred in the box, and the Falcons were awarded their penalty kick. Pezon would do the honors, and his blast was deep in the back of the net before the keeper could make a move on it, putting the Falcons up by 1-0.

Last year’s leading scorer, Pezon had tallied his second score of the ’09 campaign in as many nights.

In the 25th minute, the Falcons nearly tallied another goal, as sophomore Sam Woodworth got a split second look on goal from inside the penalty box, but Marlins’ sophomore defender Nick Forno made a last second sliding tackle to block Woodworth’s shot and clear out the danger.

It seemed no matter to the Falcons, who continued to possess in the offensive end, and were rewarded with a corner kick in the 78th minute that would ultimately yield the game winning goal for the Falcons.

Danny Thompson sent a high arcing cross into the box, where it was met on the left corner of the goal box by the head of sophomore Trevor Lee. Instead of putting the ball on goal, however, Lee’s header sent the ball even further across the goal mouth, crossing up Zmuda and leaving the net wide open for Pezon to rise up and head the ball authoritatively into the back of the net for his second tally of the night.

With the score at 2-0 in favor of the Falcons, the Marlins cranked up the offense in a desperate effort to come back, and nearly found enough success. Virginia Wesleyan took control of the rest of the half, at times leaving the Falcons on their heels, and in with two minutes left in the game the hosts would get on the board.

With VWC possessing in the offensive end, sophomore Shawn Edwards got a hold of the ball about 30 yards from goal near the center of the pitch. With the ball bounding towards him, Edwards volleyed an incredible shot that arced over Clugston’s head and just under the crossbar for an awesome goal that cut the lead in half.

It was simply a matter of too little too late for the Marlins, however, as there was just not enough time left on the clock to mount any serious attacks after the goal, and the Falcons were able to escape with the 2-1 victory.

“It was a little disappointing giving up that late goal,” said McCarty. “We always want to score last.”

Still, the end result was capped a fairly good weekend for the club: After a heart-stopping 2-1 overtime win on Friday over fifth-ranked Christopher Newport University, Messiah was able to regroup to remain unbeaten on the year with a hard-fought victory over a sturdy VWC side.

“Sure, we’re pleased with the results,” McCarty said. “We still can improve in a lot of areas, though, and we’ll press forward looking to do that.”

Messiah will next return to the friendly confines of Shoemaker Field, as the Falcons will host Gettysburg College Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The Bullets came up with a 1-1 tie against the Falcons last year at Clark Field.

“Gettysburg has played us very well in the past,” McCarty said. “We’ll be excited to be back home and playing them.”