(Posted October 2, 2005)

Juniata 5, Pitt-Bradford 0

Huntingdon, Pa. - Freshman forward Fred McNeal (Troy/Towanda) scored three goals in a span of four minutes to lead a four-goal second-half surge and propel the Juniata College men's soccer team to a 5-0 non-conference win over Pitt-Bradford in Huntingdon Sunday afternoon. The victory raised Juniata's record to 3-8 while Pitt-Bradford dropped to 2-10.

Despite out-shooting the visitors 12-3 in the first half, Juniata led just 1-0 after a goal from Jeff Gehring (Exeter Township/Reading) on an assist from McNeal. But then just four minutes into the second half McNeal knocked the ball away from a defender and slotted it into the back of the net to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.

Just two minutes later, McNeal collected a through pass from Kenneth Wiles (Rhinebeck/Rhinebeck, N.Y.) and drove it into the lower right corner for his second tally of the game. He then earned the hat trick just two minutes later, taking another feed from Wiles and pounding into the same corner for the score.

It was the second hat-trick of the season for McNeal and improved his team-leading goal total to eight.

Juniata continued to pressure, firing off 14 shots in the second half. The final score then came as Thomas Reddan (Saint Mary's/Glen Cove, N.Y.) fired a low cross across the front of the goal and Steve Crow (Middletown/Middletown) drove it past the keeper to give Juniata a 5-0 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the match.

The Eagles had three goalkeepers combine on the shutout, with Mark Guthridge (DuBois/DuBois) playing the most minutes and recording three saves. Nathan Pugh (Shippensburg/Shippensburg) stopped one shot in 27 minutes in net, and Ted Sonneborn (Manlius Pebble Hill/Syracuse, N.Y.) played the final four minutes.

Pitt-Bradford keeper Dan McFadden played the first 53 minutes of the match and made a pair of saves while surrendering four goals. Michael Ruffino stopped three shots and yielded one score for the visitors.

The Eagles will return to action on Wednesday with another home non-conference outing, this time against Dickinson College.

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