Kean Drops Heartbreaking Overtime Loss to #2 Messiah

UNION, N.J. (10/9/06) - Messiah College's Dan Wagner (McAllister, Pa.) knocked in a loose ball with 2:30 remaining in the second overtime to lift the 2nd ranked Falcons to a 2-1 victory over Kean University in non-conference men's soccer action on Monday evening. With the victory, the two-time defending National Champion Messiah improved to 10-0-1 and extended their unbeaten streak to 40 straight games, while the Cougars had their four-game unbeaten streak stopped and fall to 5-3-5. The game was the Cougars sixth straight home overtime contest.

The fast paced match was a back-n-forth battle between two of the top teams in the nation and it appeared that the game was going to end in a tie. However, with less than three minutes to go, Messiah's Josh Sanders (Fleetwood, Pa.) was able to elude a pair of Cougar defenders which allowed him to send a crossing pass that deflected off a Kean player. The ball went right to the foot of Wagner who sent the ball into an open net for the game-winner.

Early in the second overtime period it appeared the Cougars were going to win the game as junior Damien Serafin (Wallington, N.J.) sent a shot past the Messiah goalie, but the ball ricocheted off the far post and the match played on.

In the first half, Messiah and Kean had a few scoring chances with each side recording five shots in the period. Early in the second half, Messiah gained the upper hand and started dominating play and the Falcons eventually got on the board in the 54th minute when Kai Kasiguran (Oakwood Village, Ohio) blasted home a crossing pass from Jared Bollinger (Shillington, Pa.).

Following the goal the Cougars picked up their play and started to control the tempo of the game and with 15 minutes left, Anthony Tuesta (Clifton, N.J.) was pulled down inside the box and the Cougars were awarded a penalty kick. Kean elected to have Konrad Kruczek (Clifton, N.J.) take the ensuing kick as Tuesta was injured on the play. On the PK, Kruczek sent a hard shot to the left corner where Messiah keeper Dustin Shambach (Middleburg, Pa.) guessed correctly and deftly smacked away the shot to preserve the one-goal lead. Kean continued its pressure and just two minutes later Ronald Quiroz (Fairview, N.J.) sent a through ball from behind midfield line to Tuesta who sprinted past the Falcon defense and flicked a shot into the net to tie the game at the 78:08 mark of the match.

Overall the Falcons held a 20-15 advantage in shots, while Kean had a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks. KU's goalie Kyle Crego (Ocean, N.J.) finished the game with five saves, while Shambach stopped three shots in the game.