WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic University men's soccer team fell to No. 12 Messiah in a battle of nationally-ranked teams to conclude the 10th annual Turk Emekli Classic on Saturday afternoon.
The first half was cagey and saw neither team produce any quality chances. Messiah had the lion's share of possession but struggled to create clear looks at the Cardinal goal, with Catholic center backs Owen Maher and Mudi Jagha showing strongly in the first 45 minutes. Each team only mustered one shot on target in the opening stanza.
But similar to yesterday's game against TCNJ, Messiah came alive in the second half to claim a 4-0 victory.
Just 32 seconds after the second-half kickoff, No. 16 Catholic was picking the ball out of its own net as Matt McDonald made no mistake on a free header after brilliant work from Patrick Lee on the left flank.
Messiah was a different beast in the second half. The Cardinals needed a goal-line clearance from Andrew Lowman and a strong strike from Ben Lefever to come back into play off of the crossbar within the first 10 minutes of the half to remain in the game.
Catholic then began to grow into the game and had its best chance of the contest in the 57th minute. Kwaku Marfo-Sarbeng turned in the attacking third and struck a low shot from outside the penalty area that would have snuck inside the far post if not for a brilliant, full-stretch save from Adam Carter.
The Cardinals continued to push for an equalizer and were helped mightily by a brilliant double save from its freshman goalkeeper. In the 64th minute, he thwarted Jarec Morlote twice in quick succession, saving smartly down to his left then sprawling to his athletically to his right to push the follow-up attempt over the bar. The sequence marked the two best saves of Owen Allegro's young Catholic career.
The Falcons doubled their lead in the 74th minute when Lowman misjudged a diagonal ball allowing Sam Phillips in behind, who finished with a clever chip to the back post. Messiah added two more to claim the title of Turk Emekli Classic champions with a pair of 4-0 wins.
Ben Zimmer, Ryan Kelly and Jacob Rocha showed well as they put in shifts in the center of the park. Allegro made six saves.
Lee was named tournament MVP after scoring Messiah's opening goal yesterday and assisting its opening goal in today's win.
The Cardinals will return to action next Saturday when they face Cortland on the road. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m.
