STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Two games away from the AMCC playoffs, Baron soccer defeats conference opponent Pitt - Bradford 4-2. The turning point in the game came from senior captain Peter Mooney who scored the first goal of his career in his last home game of the regular season.

Franciscan started off strong with a goal from senior defenseman Luke Merry. Sophomore John Imbimbo passed the ball from the right wing into the center where Merry was waiting to drill it right at the goal. The Panthers goalkeeper was unable to control the ball and fumbled it into the back of the net.

Bradford then responded late in the second half by penetrating the Baron defense with their speed. The Panthers forward had a clean one-on-one with FUS keep Eddie Huber and fired the ball into the far right corner.

"Pitt - Bradford is a very good team and they had us worried because they have a lot of speed down the middle of the field," head coach Roger's said. "Their style of play is always a concern and we couldn't commit to the attack. Our defensive guys for the most part really settled it down; I have to give a lot of credit to the guys on the back line."

At halftime Rogers talked to his team about sticking to their own style of play by building the ball in the midfield and carrying it up the field to get more quality looks on goal.The Barons stuck to that plan and came out firing in the second half, working the ball through the midfield and creating good scoring chances.

The game turned in Franciscan's favor during a well created attack from the midfield. Freshman Joe Duran dribbled the ball through the midfield finding fellow freshman Cuyler Ledyard in the middle of the box. Instead of forcing the shot Ledyard pulled the ball out of the box passing to a wide open Mooney on the outside. Mooney took the shot from about twenty-five yards out finding the top of the net and giving the Barons the go-ahead goal.

The Barons secured their lead with two more goals from Imbimbo and Duran, giving Franciscan some breathing room. The Barons finished with more shots on goal (17) than the Panthers had total shots (16).

"It was a very good day in developing the attack. We were still a little deficient on the second ball, but in the second half we started to pull it together," Rogers said. "We had a lot of chances in the first half that we should have finished. Sometimes it makes you nervous because the longer the game goes on, you're not going to get all those chances, but we developed just as many in the second half."

Despite going down 4-1, Bradford did not give up and came back with another goal seven minutes before the end of the game. However Franciscan played smart and worked the clock to their advantage leaving the Panthers out of time with a 4-2 finish.

The midfield and defense had a great game Rogers said. Especially with strong performances from midfielders Mark Allen, Edwin de St. Aubin and Joe Duran, and defensemen Peter Mooney, Peter Herrmann, and Jace Vansteenburg.

The Barons have one more regular season game at Mt. Alyosius College on Oct 29, at 2pm. A win over the Mounties would put Franciscan in position for their first ever playoff appearance.

"There's a little pressure on the guys and sometimes you try not to let it get to you but you get a little tight," Rogers said. "They played loose today and that made the goals come a lot easier."