GRANTHAM, Pa.—The Hood College men's soccer team (3-5-2, 0-4 Commonwealth) was defeated by Messiah College (12-0-1, 4-0 Commonwealth) 9-1 in a Commonwealth conference matchup Tuesday evening. Going into the contest Messiah was ranked No. 3 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Continental Tires Poll and their quality was evident from the get go.

The awe of playing a perennial powerhouse like Messiah was evident throughout the game, although there were positives that the Blazers can take from the game. Junior Eric Diehl scored a fantastic goal in the 58th minute that erupted the Blazer bench and stunned Messiah. Diehl won the ball at midfield and attacked the retreating Messiah defense with pace and quickness. Diehl found a little daylight and fired a great strike with his potent left foot that wound up about an inch inside the far post. With the goal Diehl passed Chris Mendez for third place on Hood's all-time leading goal's list with 15. Hood was also just the fourth team out of 13 to score against the Falcons. It was a quality strike of the ball and the end result was exactly what Diehl and the Blazer players deserved.

The score of the game did not give justice to the Blazer players, who all played with heart and passion for 90 minutes. Every Hood player from the ones who play every minute to the players who only get a few minutes a game all played with the kind of emotion that would make the Hood community proud.

One of the big differences in the game was Hood's inability to counter Messiah's quickness and strength on set pieces. Messiah scored more than half of their goals off set pieces with good designed plays and some that the Blazers just did not mark well. The possession and in game I.Q. that Messiah played with was bar none and was something that the Blazers will hope to immolate in the coming seasons.

Hood returns to action this Saturday when they play its second consecutive road conference game against Arcadia. This game is set to kickoff at 5 p.m.