Gannon's Sergio Del Castillo looks for room during his five-goal night against California (PA) on Saturday.
Bryce Dolak
1
Cal U (PA) CAL (1-6-1, 0-4-0)
7
Winner Gannon GAN (8-2-1, 3-0-1)
Cal U (PA) CAL
(1-6-1, 0-4-0)
1
Final
7
Gannon GAN
(8-2-1, 3-0-1)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Cal U (PA) CAL 1 0 1
Gannon GAN 2 5 7

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Del Castillo Scores Five Goals as Gannon Wins Fifth Straight with Homecoming Win over California (Pa.)

Senior midfielder has now scored 15 goals in last five matches

ERIE, Pa. – Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain) continued his torrid scoring pace with five goals to lead the Gannon men's soccer team to a convincing 7-1 win over California (Pa.) on Homecoming in a PSAC West match. The senior midfielder entered the contest leading Division II in goals and points and padded those totals with his second match with five goals this season. He posted his third hat trick in the last five matches.

Gannon has now won five straight matches while improving to 8-2-1 overall and 3-0-1 in the PSAC West. Cal dropped to 16-1- and 0-4-0 respectively.

Del Castillo has scored an incredible 15 goals in the last five games as he leads the country now with 18 goals and 39 points. He climbed into a tie for sixth place in career goals at Gannon with 47, along with now ranking eighth in career points with 109. The 18 goals are already tied for tenth in a season.

After scoring just three goals in a four-game stretch Gannon has gone goal-crazy of late, with 32 goals in the last five matches. However, it was Cal who surprised the Golden Knights with an early goal as the Vulcans had the wind in their favor in the first half. Kobe Norfleet was able to beat a Gannon defender into the left side of the box and fired a perfect pass to Tyler Sims, who had an easy chip right in front of the net at 6:37. It was Cal's fifth goal of the season.

Gannon evened the match at 1-1 at the 12:55 mark thanks to a rush by Herman Aanberg (Hamar, Norway/Wang Toppidrett Oslo). Aanberg was tripped up in the box resulting in a penalty kick for the Golden Knights. Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain) took advantage of the opportunity, scoring his team-leading 14th goal of the season. The senior midfielder fired the ball into the right corner of the goal.    

Del Castillo scored his second goal of the night at 15:33 to give Gannon a 2-1 lead. Pau Ferrer's (Valencia, Spain/ISES Isabel de Villena) crossing pass was directed at the goal by Joe Knox (Gold Coast, Australia/The Southport School), and while Cal goalkeeper Payton Smith made a nice safe, the ball bounced out to Del Castillo who knocked it into the open net from five yards out.    

With the wind at their backs in the second half the Golden Knights quickly built on their lead, scoring three times in the first ten-plus minutes of the half.
Del Castillo notched his third hat trick of the season at the 47:39 mark. Toby Gower (Norwich, England/Long Stratton)s' free kick went to Joe Knox (Gold Coast, Australia/The Southport School), who headed it to Del Castillo. Del Castillo headed it in from short range for a picture-perfect goal to make it 3-1.   

The lead grew to 4-1 five minutes later off a corner kick. Sverre Orten (Orsta, Norway/Aalesund vgs) drove the corner kick to the far side of the net, where Pau Ferrer (Valencia, Spain/ISES Isabel de Villena) headed it in for his second goal of the season at 52:37.

Del Castillo would make it four goals on the blustery evening, heading the ball into the far right corner of the net from 10 yards out thanks to a pass from Orten, who recorded his second assist. That gave Gannon a 5-1 advantage at 55:16. Goal number five came at 67:05 off a free kick by James Pool (Hastings, England/Claverham) to Del Castillo, as he headed the ball from eight yards out into the left corner for a 6-1 lead.

Tinashe Katsande (Norwich, England/Dereham Sixth Form College) wrapped up the scoring with his second goal of the season on a nice give-and-go from Pau Ferrer (Valencia, Spain/ISES Isabel de Villena). The lanky senior forward took the Ferrer pass and fired it from long range into the far left corner as the lead grew to 7-1 with 74:58 left.

Gannon finished the night with a lopsided 29-5 advantage in shots, including 17-1 in the second half. Gannon also held a 17-1 lead in shots on goal. The Golden Knights had 12 corner kicks to three for the Vulcans. Freshman Samuel Alarcon (Madrid, Spain/Colegio el Valle II) made his second straight start in goal for Gannon and played all 90 minutes.   

The Cal match started a stretch of four straight games at McConnell Family Stadium for the Golden Knights. They return to action with their final non-conference match on Wednesday, October 5 with Daemen providing the opposition. The match will get underway at 7:00 p.m. and will be preceeded by Senior Day festivities.  
 
Print Friendly Version