Championship Central Page

GRANTHAM, Pa. (Men’s Soccer) – The No. 1 Messiah Falcons shutout the Lycoming Warriors by a score of 4-0 on Saturday to claim their seventh Commonwealth Conference Men’s Soccer Championship in the last eight years.

Messiah (19-0-1) got on the board in the 10th minute when Jack Thompson scored his eighth goal of the season on a pass from Brian Ramirez. Ramirez crossed the ball high into the box and Thompson finished it.

Three minutes later, Mike Kovach passed it down the line to Jacob Bender. Bender stop and shot the ball from the right side and bent it in for a 2-0 lead.

In the 20th minute, Bryant Myer dribbled the ball from the backline and through multiple defenders before scoring for a 3-0 lead.

In the second half, Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Year Jeremy Payne scored in the 58th minute to extend the lead to 4-0. Myer set up Payne for the header and his 19th goal of the season.

Lycoming (15-3-3) was only able to get two shots, none of which were on goal. The Warriors’ goalkeeper Connor Keenan made two saves.

Myer was named the Commonwealth Conference Championship Most Valuable Player.

Messiah earns the Commonwealth Conference’s automatic qualifier (AQ) to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The field will be announced on Monday, Nov. 10 at 1:30 p.m. at www.NCAA.com.