No. 2 Messiah 4, Lebanon Valley 1

LVC Starters
Avery, Dal, Katshir, Kline, Skye, Alexander, Freeman, Gibbons, Detweiler, Mehl, McHale

Messiah Starters
Bell, Quintin, Thomas, Ruiz Plaza, Robbins, Jo. Bender, West, Ja. Bender, Rosenberg, Robbins, Brautigam

How It Happened
Lebanon Valley's outstanding run came to an end with a 4-1 loss at No. 2 Messiah in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament Championship Game on Saturday night, Nov. 5.

A quick start that saw the Flying Dutchmen (14-4) get off two of the game's first three shots on goal slowed as the contest wore on and Nick West recorded a hat trick for the Falcons (16-0-3) en route to being named MVP.

After LVC was unable to capitalize on its first corner kick opportunity of the game in the 18th minute, West got the home team on the board first off an assist by Jacob Bender in the 21st minute. The marker held up as the only score of the first half.

West struck again early in the second half when he gathered a Will Cochran pass, got a clear shot off, and beat Lebanon Valley goalkeeper Cam Avery to make it 2-0 Falcons in the 48th minute. He completed the trifecta little more than 10 minutes later, this time off a find by Kirby Robbins with 30:24 left to play.

Robby Johnson capped the Messiah scoring in the 76th minute off assists from Robbins and Zack Bosshard.

The Dutchmen continued to work as time grew short and were rewarded when John McHale was fouled in the box, prompting a penalty shot for LVC. Senior defender Ryan Peugh stepped up to take the shot and buried his attempt to get Lebanon Valley on the board with 16 seconds remaining.

Inside the Numbers
- Saturday's contest was LVC's first conference championship game since 2012 and just the second in program history.
- Ryan Peugh's penalty-kick score was the first goal of his four-year career.
- In addition to Peugh's goal, Jake Kline and Alex Detweiler accounted for the remainder of LVC's shots on target.
- The Dutchmen got off two shots on goal in the game's 15 minutes but managed just one more the rest of the way.
- Messiah held a 27-8 edge in shots and a 15-3 advantage in SOG.
- The Falcons aggressiveness led to six corner kicks on the night. Lebanon Valley earned three of their own.
- Cam Avery made 10 saves in goal for the Dutchmen.
- Messiah goalkeeper Connor Bell made a pair of stops before exiting in the 80th minute.

Who's Next?
Eligible to continue postseason play thanks to a winning record, LVC will await a bid to the ECAC Tournament early next week.