BOX SCORE

Reading, Pa. (Sept. 30, 2006) – Senior forward Moss Grande (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson) scored twice and added two assists to lead Alvernia College to a 4-1 win over Neumann College Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania Athletic Conference men’s soccer action at Schlager Memorial Field.

            Grande opened the scoring in the 40th minute collecting a free ball 20 yards out in the center of the field and ripping the left-footed shot past a diving Josh Williams (Lansdowne, PA/Cardinal O’Hara).  The Crusaders (7-2-1, 4-0 PAC) took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break, but that disappeared less than 10 minutes into the second half.

            Junior forward Barry Harvey (Aston, PA/Chichester) found Cody Conk (Cream Ridge, NJ/Allentown) sliding through the right side of the Crusaders’ defense and the freshman midfielder beat the defense and Richard Kessler (Reading, PA/Reading) to knot the score at 1-1.

            The Alvernia coaching staff went to the bench for junior reserve Cory Lush (Reading, PA/Reading) shortly after the game-tying goal, and the 5-9 midfielder paid instant dividends knocking home the go-ahead goal in the 68th minute on Grande’s first assist.

            Senior midfielder Zach Naylon (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin) found Grande on a restart four minutes later and Grande returned the favor in the 78th minute and the Crusader cruised to a 4-1 victory.  Kessler made needed just one save, on a point blank second half rip, to record his seventh victory.  Williams made four saves for the Knights.

            Alvernia wraps up the month of September with the best start in program history going 7-2-1 including wins in seven of the last eight games.  The Crusaders continue the conference schedule this Monday with a 4:00 p.m. game at Gwynedd-Mercy College.

Alvernia 4, Neumann 1