Devils learned lessons at Messiah
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Men's soccer
FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Fredonia State fought adamantly to hold off the Messiah Falcons, only to fall to the defending national champions, 3-0.
The game saw the Devils travel to Shoemaker Field, playing in front of a packed house of 1,900 spectators. As halftime came and went, the two sides found themselves in a scoreless draw. Messiah forced goalkeeper Thom Cavanaugh (Singerlands/Vorheesville) to make three saves in the first half -- seven saves total -- while the Blue Devils defense was able to battle through waves of Falcon onslaughts.
At the start of the second half, the Blue Devils captain Stephen Ahern (Nottingham/Bilborough, U.K.) fell to a groin ailment and the Devils were forced to re-adjust. As the battle waged on, Messiah finally penetrated the Blue Devil backline in the 60th minute. Junior midfielder Nick Thompson opened the scoring with a finish from inside the 6-yard line. The Blue Devils responded within the next two minutes and forced possession up the field into a crossing situation to the back post. The cross found junior forward John Grabowski (Middleport/Royalton-Hartland) 12 yards off of the back post, but Grabowski misfired.
“They did a good job of possessing the ball in our half during the first half,” said Brad McCarty, Messiah head coach, speaking of the Blue Devils. “It just looked like they were tired in that second half, and the offside trap lost some of its effectiveness because of that."
The Falcons ended up scoring two additional goals to secure their second victory in as many days. Their final goal came in the 89th minute.
The Blue Devils (0-3) opened their season playing three top-of-the-line opponents. “We were looking to play top level opponents, which could possibly qualify for the NCAA tournament,” head coach P.J. Gondek said. “My hope is that we will get a chance to play teams of this quality in the post-season and this time we will be ready for them.”
The Blue Devils will look to build from their recent encounters as they enter the weekend. They host St. Joseph’s of Long Island -- an NCAA tournament team from 2008 -- at 7 p.m. in the first leg of the Clarion Hotel Soccer Classic at University Stadium.