OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Stevenson men's soccer senior Ryan Pierce (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) scored his first goal of the season in the 44th to pull the Mustangs within one goal at halftime, but third-ranked Messiah scored four second-half goals en route to a 6-1 victory Saturday at Mustang Stadium.

Stevenson (5-6, 0-1 MAC) suffered their first loss in the last three games and the first in their inaugural game in the Commonwealth Conference.

Saturday marked the first-ever meeting between the Mustangs and Messiah who has won eight of the last 12 NCAA national championships and five-straight Commonwealth Conference titles.

The Falcons (9-0-1, 1-0 MAC) earned their 23rd consecutive road victory dating back to Oct. 7, 2009.

Brian Ramirez opened the scoring with his first goal of the season off a free kick in the 26th minute.

Jeremy Payne, the Commonwealth Conference's leading scorer, gave Messiah a 2-0 lead on a through ball from Joshua Wood just four minutes later.

However, the Mustangs cut their deficit to just one in the 44th minute when Pierce scored off a header in the box on an assist from junior Nico Garcia (Silver Spring, Md./Blake) who found Pierce from 40 yards out. The goals was just the third allowed by the Falcons in 10 games this season.

Messiah would score four second-half goals, the first coming just 50 seconds in off a corner kick from Jack Thompson that would deflect off of Joshua Wood before Mike Kovach knocked it in.

Kovach would add his second goal of the game and third of the season just 1:13 later on a through ball from Thompson.

Payne netted his eighth goal of the season in the 63rd minute and Braynt Myer capped the scoring for the Falcons in the 81st.

Messiah held a 19-9 margin in shots and a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Stevenson used three different keepers in the game as sophomore Alex Zeidler (Woodstown, N.J./Woodstown) freshman Kenneth Hersey (Clarksville, Md./Atholton) and freshman  Kevin Westenberg (Baltimore, Md./Towson) each had one save.

The Falcons also used three goalies in the contest with Brandon West, Aaron Hennigan and Jake Berry combining for four saves.

The Mustangs return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Lebanon Valley. Game time is at 4:00 p.m.