Box Score
GRANTHAM, Pa. - Mike Bevilacqua (Marshfield,
MA/Thayer Acad.) scored the game-winning goal to help
ninth-ranked Gettysburg upset No. 1 Messiah in non-conference
men's soccer action on Wednesday.
Andrew Maynard (Reading, PA/Exeter)
recorded an assist and goalkeeper Steve Kopp (Upper
Montclair, NJ/Montclair) made three saves for his
fifth shutout of the year to extended his scoreless streak
to 469 minutes and help the Bullets (8-0-2) end a six-game
winless streak against the Falcons (9-1).
Bevilacqua, the current Centennial Conference
(CC) Player of the Week, netted his team-leading ninth goals
of the season and the sixth goal in his last three games.
Messiah goalie Dave Casper
made one stop in the losing effort.
In a matchup of the top two teams in the
Mid-Atlantic region, the squads battled scorelessly for nearly
89 minutes before Gettysburg broke through with 1 minute,
33 seconds remaining to post their first win in the series
since 1998 and avenge a 6-0 loss to Messiah last season.
On the winning play, Kopp booted the ball
to midfield, where Michael Sarbaugh (Elizabethtown,
PA/Elizabethtown) played ahead to Maynard, who fed
a breaking Bevilacqua with a slip header. Bevilacqua made
a pass to himself while beating a Falcon defender and ripped
the left netting past Casper for his team-leading fifth game-winner
of the season.
With the goal, the Bullets became the first
team to score against Messiah. The Falcons had outscored their
opponents 42-0 in the first nine games of the year.
Messiah, which was playing its second game
in two days following a 6-0 win over Wilkes on Tuesday, outshot
Gettysburg 15-4, but missed on several scoring opportunities
in the contest.
Matt Bills gave the Falcons
their best scoring threat, but Kopp made a diving save to
his right in the 64th minute to preserve the shutout. Two
minutes later, Bills missed wide off a Troy Sauer
corner-kick serve.
Kevin Schneider and Brandon
Fisher had their shots saved by Kopp in the 75th and
77th minute, respectively.
The Bullets return to action on Saturday
when they host Haverford. Game time is 2:30 p.m.
| Score by Half |
1 |
2 |
- |
F |
| #9 Gettysburg (8-0-2) |
0 |
1 |
- |
1 |
| #1 Messiah (9-1) |
0 |
0 |
- |
0 |
Scoring
G - Mike Bevilacqua (Andrew Maynard), 88:27
Shots: G 4 M 13. Corner Kicks: G 0, M 7. Fouls:
G 20, M 12. Goalie Saves: G 3 (Steve Kopp), M 1 (Dave
Casper).
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