GRANTHAM, Pa. – As a nation's No. 1 team is apt to do, Messiah College forced the 25^th-ranked Lycoming College men's soccer team into a series of unfortunate firsts in a 3-0 Commonwealth Conference win on Wednesday night, Oct. 8.
 
For the first time in the 2014 season, the Warriors (9-1-3 overall, 1-1 Commonwealth) faced a deficit (for the first time in a span of 1,153 minutes) and allowed more than one goal in a game.
 
The Falcons (12-0 overall, 2-0 Commonwealth), the defending national champions, got on the board early in the first half with 2012 National Player of the Year Jeremy Payne scoring off a dish from Jack Thompson in the eighth minute. Payne added another score in the 29^th minute and Danny Brandt added a third score in the 81^st minute.
 
Senior Connor Kennan (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) made five saves for the Warriors, as Messiah took 23 shots, and Brandon West stopped two in the shutout for the Falcons, as Lycoming took three shots in the game.
 
The Warriors get back on the field on Saturday, Oct. 11, when they head to Albright for an 8 p.m. Commonwealth Conference match.