Cooper’s Hat-Trick Lifts Lions Past Panthers

BRADFORD, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's soccer team handled Pitt-Bradford, 5-0, Wednesday night behind Blake Cooper's (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) first half hat trick.

Score: Penn State Behrend 5, Pitt-Bradford 0
Records: Penn State Behrend (5-6-1, 3-0 AMCC), Pitt-Bradford (1-10, 1-3 AMCC)

Key Moments:

* The Lions scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of Wednesday's contest with Cooper finding the back of the net twice in the ninth and 14^th minutes
* Senior Chris Profaca (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) scored his first goal of the season off a pass from Dylan Akut (Pittsburgh, PA/Plum) in the 15^th minute
* Fellow senior John Ziobro (Westtown, NY/Minisink Valley) netted an unassisted goal in the 25^th minute for his first score of the year
* Cooper completed his hat trick with his second unassisted goal in the 32^nd minute of the first half
* Johnathan Swann (Allison Park, PA/North Allegheny) recorded his first assist of the season on Cooper's second score of the game
* Behrend's defense held steady throughout the game to lead them to their fifth overall and third conference victory, holding the Panthers to only four shots and two corner kicks
* Freshman goalkeeper Anthony Scalise (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) earned his second straight shutout for Behrend
* Cooper and Profaca each tallied a game-high five shots for the Lions, while Will Smith led Pitt-Bradford with two shots
* Behrend outshot the Panthers 27-4 and had a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks

Up Next:

* The Lions travel to conference foe Mount Aloysius on Saturday, Oct. 12. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.