Brandywine Rides Big Second Half Past Hazleton

MEDIA, Pa. -- After a scoreless first 45 minutes, Penn State Brandywine netted five of the game's six second half goals, pulling away late for a 5-1 victory over Penn State Hazleton in a rematch of last season's PSUAC Men's Soccer Tournament championship on Wednesday.

Brandywine, now 5-0 in the PSUAC and 9-3 overall, was limited to one shot on goal, as was Hazleton (5-7, 3-2) during a defensive battle in the opening half.

Chris Riebman (Mt. Airy, Md./Linganore) broke the scoreless tie just over three minutes into the second stanza, netting his conference-leading 13th goal of the season.

Hazleton knotted the score during the 63rd minute, but Brandywine immediately answered as Mohamed Camara (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby) tapped in Brandon Crochunis' (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) crossing pass for the go-ahead goal less than three minutes later.

Nate Truett (St. Thomas, Pa./James Buchanan) added an insurance goal during the 70th minute and Brandywine would pull away in the final 10 minutes. Truett added his second goal of the contest off a feed from James Cellucci (Rosemont, Pa./Radnor) and Cellucci finished off the scoring at the 87:54 mark with his first goal of the season.

"I was really happy with our second half execution in the attacking third. We really made a statement today with the result against a quality opponent like Hazleton," said Head Coach Jesse Zafiratos.

Brandywine outshot Hazleton 20-6, recording nine shots on net, compared to just three for the visitors. Will Scott-Norris (Wilmington, Del./Mt. Pleasant) played all 90 minutes in goal, recording his fifth win of the year after making two saves.

Brandywine will host Penn State Greater Allegheny, which also holds a 5-0 conference mark, on Saturday at 1:00 pm in a showdown of two of the three teams that remain unbeaten in the league.