Men's Soccer Scares No. 3 Messiah, But In The End Loses 3-0

Boxscore (box score)

Widener held the game scoreless for 79 minutes of regulation against No. 3 Messiah, but lost 3-0 in the end in a Commonwealth Conference match at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium.

Widener (5-8-4, 0-4-3 CC) went in with nothing to lose against nationally ranked Messiah (16-1, 7-0).

Widener's defense held together. The back line of the Pride consisting of senior Cody Schulte (White Hall, MD), junior Troy Czapor (Richboro, PA), and sophomores Malik Krcic (Saylorsburg, PA) and Ross Staudt (Marlton, NJ) did not let one of the top offenses in the country get a clean shot off for all of the first half and most of the second.

Senior goaltender Jakub Valdner (Bratislava, Slovakia) made 15 saves, including a few that required him to sacrifice his body for. Valdner's season total is a conference-leading 100 saves and a .800 save percentage.

With the game still 0-0, Widener had its best opportunity to score and take the lead on the defending national champions. Freshman midfielder Tommy O'Keefe (Lutherville, MD) fought for the ball with a Falcon defender on the left sideline in the 68th minute. O'Keefe then made a tremendous move past the defender and carried the ball down the left side. With Messiah's defense pressuring, O'Keefe crossed the ball into the middle and found fellow freshman Max Reid (Munich, Germany) six yards out from the net. Reid one-touched the ball towards the left side of the net, but goalie Brandon West jumped in the way to save the game.

In the 80th minute, reigning national player of the year Jeremy Payne carried the ball into the Widener box. He found Joshua Wood, who broke the scoreless streak with his 16th goal of the year.

In the 86th minute as Widener defense began to push up the field, Payne headed in a cross from Jack Thompson for his 12th goal of the year.

With a minute left, Danny Brandt received a pass from Thompson and put it in the net for his fifth goal of the season and the final.

Widener returns to Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium on Wednesday to face Lebanon Valley at 7:00 pm.

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