Brandywine Picks Up 5-1 Victory At Gwynedd Mercy

GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine scored just 2:51 into the first half and never looked back as the Lions claimed a 5-1 non-conference victory at Gwynedd Mercy University on Tuesday evening.

Brandon Crochunis (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) netted a pair of first-half goals, including the opener less than three minutes into the game off a feed from Mohamed Camara (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby). His second score of the match came 18 minutes later, doubling the Lions' lead to 2-0.

Brandywine's third goal came with just three seconds remaining for halftime as Ronaldo Calle (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) connected off a corner kick by Rajbir Lohat (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown).

"We were very dangerous on attacking set pieces today. I'm happy how well we executed for 90 minutes," said Head Coach Jesse Zafiratos.

The Lions continued to pour it on in the second half, upping the margin to 4-0 when James Cellucci (Rosemont, Pa./Radnor) headed in Ian Roland's (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) long throw in during the 54th minute.

The Griffins got one goal back with six minutes to play in regulation, but Cellucci found Daniel Willie (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby), who deposited the Lions fifth goal, capping the scoring three minutes later.

Brandywine doubled Gwynedd Mercy in shot attempts, 18-9, and collected eight of the match's 11 corner kicks. Goalkeeper Brandon Welden (Essington, Pa./Interboro), named USCAA Goalkeeper of the Week earlier Tuesday, stopped four Gwynedd Mercy shots to earn his first win of the season.

Brandywine (1-0-1) returns home Saturday to host Immaculata at 1:00 pm.