ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, November 3, 2001

Messiah Squeaks Past Etown, 1-0, in Overtime of Commonwealth Conference Championship Game

GRANTHAM, Pa. --- Messiah, ranked second in the nation, now 18-1 overall, and the defending national champions, squeaked past Elizabethtown (13-7-1) with an overtime goal in the 104th minute to break a scoreless tie and win the Commonwealth Conference championship and automatic NCAA tournament bid late Saturday night.

After a scoreless regulation time of 90 minutes, Troy Sauer scored with just 50 seconds left to play in overtime in a scramble in front of the net to give the Falcons the victory.

The game was a high-pitched defensive struggle, with Etown first-year goaltender Edwin Tichenor (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) and Messiah senior goalkeeper Chris Boyles making seven saves each. Messiah held only a slight advantage over Etown in shots, 11-9, but the Falcons had 10 corner kicks against none for the Blue Jays. Elizabethtown was also called for 17 fouls against eight for Messiah.

The game got underway late, beginning at just after 9:00 p.m. instead of its scheduled 7:30 p.m. start time, because Messiah also hosted an NCAA tournament women's soccer game beforehand which went into quadruple-overtime and penalty kicks.

At Elizabethtown, PA
Commonwealth Conference Semifinals
Elizabethtown (13-7-1) 0 0 0 — 0
Messiah (18-1)         0 0 1 — 1

Goal Scorers:
MC—Troy Sauer, 104:10

Shots: EC 9, MC 11. Corners: EC 0, MC 10. Fouls: EC 17, MC 8. Yellow Cards: EC 3 (Charlie Haines, James Dipino, Tim Filewicz), MC 0. Goalie Saves: Edwin Tichenor (EC) 7, Chris Boyles (MC) 7.