Baron's Men's Soccer Dominates Hilbert, 6-1

STEUBENVILLE, OH. - The Franciscan University of Steubenville men's soccer team opened up conference play with a bang, defeating the Hawks of Hilbert College, 6-1, on September 13. The Barons, who are in their first season in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), are now 4-2-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.

The Barons jumped on the offensive attack early, scoring off of a deflection by a Hilbert player in the first two minutes of the game initiated by Columbus, OH native Eddie Recznik. At the 25 minute mark, Sophomore sensation Steve Duran from Chantilly, VA scored a goal, making it 2-0. Duran would then get the assist on an Andrew Leonard goal, a Sophomore from Dearborn, MI, with a 1:15 left in the half to make the home team's lead 3-0.

The Hawks would not stay dormant, though, making an attempt at a comeback with a goal by Dan Gerringer, a Senior, at the 41:20 mark in the second half. However, Barons Junior captain Christian Bobak from Buffalo, NY, scored at 22:45. Eleven minutes later, Zeph Swope, a Junior from Columbus, scored his fifth goal of the season to make the lead 5-1. Freshman Patrick Meier from Omaha, Nebraska scored his first goal of the season with nine minutes left to finalize the score at 6-1.

Duran led all players with eight shots on goal, followed by Matt Taylor with four and three players with two apiece. First year head coach Antonio Soave was pleased with his team's performance today as well as in the past few games. "We are on a nice stretch here. We've played well the past few games. Today we came out hard from the beginning. We are settling into our system, which is defending and attacking in waves." Soave praised Cleaton as being the "quarterback for the defense. He gives us a boost. He lets very little get past him and is great at rushing to the ball. He helps set up everything else that goes on in the game." The Barons will look to extend their winning streak to three games as they take a break from AMCC play to face Geneva College on Wednesday, September 17, at 5 p.m. on the Steubenville campus.