READING, Pa. – Facing a team ranked top-five nationally, The Albright men's soccer team dropped a 5-0 contest to the Messiah Falcons in MAC Commonwealth play at Shirk Stadium on Tuesday night.

With the loss, the Lions drop to 2-9-1 on the season and 1-1 in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the No. 5 Falcons improve their record to 10-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play. Messiah has now won eight games in a row.

Messiah struck quickly in the sixth minute after Colby Thomas scored on a through ball fed to him as he beat Lions goalkeeper Billy Mullen on the right side. With Messiah dominating time of possession in the first half, they would add to their lead in the 31^st minute when Nick West scored off a rebound after teammate Kirby Robbins tallied the initial shot. Mullen would then make a couple of nice saves to keep the game at 2-0 into the half. The Falcons held an 11-1 shot advantage after one period.

In the second half, the Falcons would then add to their lead in the 65^th minute off a header in the box from Jonathan Groothoff. Messiah closed the half with a pair of goals from Christian Valen in the 82^nd and 84^th minutes of the game to bring the score to its final at 5-0. As in the first half, the Falcons held an 11-1 shot advantage in the second.

Messiah finished with a 22-2 shot advantage, with 15 of them going on net. The Falcons also held a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks.


Mullen took the loss after making 10 saves and allowing all five goals in the entire 90 minutes of action. A pair of Falcons goalkeepers combined for the shutout with starter Connor Bell and Nate Flanders each playing a full 45-minute half.

Albright will return to action on Saturday, October 7th when they will host Lebanon Valley in MAC Commonwealth play for an 8 p.m. contest.