Valverde kicking
Gene Walsh
4
Winner Penn State Berks PSBM (5-5-1, 3-0-1 NEAC)
1
Morrisville State MORM (3-7-0, 2-2-0 NEAC)
Winner
Penn State Berks PSBM
(5-5-1, 3-0-1 NEAC)
4
Final
1
Morrisville State MORM
(3-7-0, 2-2-0 NEAC)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Penn State Berks PSBM 2 2 4
Morrisville State MORM 0 1 1

Game Recap: Men's Soccer |

Valverde's hat trick powers Berks past Morrisville State

MORRISVILLE, N.Y. - Brenden Valverde tallied three goals with an assist from Jon Mercier on each one to help the Penn State Berks men's soccer team to a 4-1 victory over host Morrisville State College in a North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) contest on Saturday afternoon.

The Nittany Lions improve to 5-5-1 overall and 3-0-1 in the NEAC, while Morrisville drops to 3-7 on the season and 2-2 in the conference. The win for Berks snapped a five-game losing streak against the Mustangs.

Berks jumped out to an early lead with a goal at the 5:54 mark of the opening half. The defense cleared the ball out of their end up to Mercier, who dribbled his way through the midfield and passed the ball ahead to Valverde heading toward the net. Valverde took a few touches and crossed a ground ball under the keeper and inside the far right post.

In the 20th minute, Mercier deflected the ball over the the defense and Valverde outraced the defenders to get to the bouncing ball. Valverde then chipped the ball up and over the keepers head as he came off the end line to double the lead.

Over the remainder of the first half, the Nittany Lions got off another six shots and had two corners, while the Mustangs had one shot and one corner. But neither found the back of the net in that time to give Berks a 2-0 advantage heading into the halftime intermission.

The Mustangs busted out of the break with a goal by Stephen Oduro just 43 seconds into the second half to cut their deficit to 2-1. Morrisville kept up the pressure over the next few minutes as they searched for the equalizer. They had a shot smack off the crossbar at 46:15 and two minutes later earned a corner kick that led to a header shot going over the net.

Both teams put shots on goal over the next couple of minutes before Valverde broke through with his third goal of the day with 58:59 showing on the clock. After a Morrisville foul just outside the box, Mercier sent a free kick through a stack of defenders and Valverde, who came crashing toward the goal, deflected the ball inside the near post.

Manny Zavala put the game out of reach with a goal in the 86th minute. Following another foul deep in their own territory, the Mustangs attempted to clear the free kick out of trouble, but the ball went directly to Zavala, who ripped a line drive over the keepers head for his third goal of the season.

With the hat trick, Valverde raised his conference lead in goals scored to 15 and with the trio of assists, Mercier raised his NEAC leading total to 11.

The defense of Tom Ulrich, Jakob Fischer, Galen Raab, Brennan Scheetz, and Orion Mathias turned in a solid performance, limiting the Mustangs to just nine shots (five on goal). Gerardo Sosa and Trent Johnson split time in net, with Johnson recording four saves to match a season-high.

For the game, Berks outshot the Mustangs by a 20-9 margin and both teams finished with four corner kicks.

The Nittany Lions continue their road trip with a NEAC match at SUNY Cobleskill on Sunday, October 8 at 12 p.m.
 
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