Sergio Del Castillo gets hat trick against Wheeling.
Bryce Dolak
Gannon teammates celebrate with Sergio Del Castillo after he completed the hat trick against Wheeling on Saturday.
2
Wheeling WHE (2-4-1, 2-2-1)
6
Winner Gannon GAN (4-2-1, 0-0-1)
Wheeling WHE
(2-4-1, 2-2-1)
2
Final
6
Gannon GAN
(4-2-1, 0-0-1)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Wheeling WHE 0 2 2
Gannon GAN 2 4 6

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

Del Castillo Scores Hat Trick as Gannon Explodes for Six Goals in Win over Wheeling

ERIE, Pa. – After scoring just three goals in the previous four matches the Gannon men's soccer team exploded for six goals on Saturday night to hand visiting Wheeling a 6-2 defeat at McConnell Family Stadium. The Golden Knights moved to 4-2-1 with the non-conference win while Wheeling dropped to 2-4-1.
 
Gannon had dominated play in its last two matches but only had a tie to show for it after losing at the District of Columbia, 1-0, on Wednesday and battling Seton Hill to a 2-2 tie last Saturday. The six goals were the most since a 7-1 win over Point Park on March 12, 2021.
 
Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain) came in as Gannon's leading scorer and doubled his season total with the three-goal hat trick, the first of his collegiate career. The senior midfielder now has a team-high six goals to go with two assists. Benjamin Querling (Zuelpich, Germany/Emil-Fischer Gymnasium), Herman Aanberg (Hamar, Norway/Wang Toppidrett Oslo) and Shota Toyama (Kanagawa, Japan) added a goal apiece.
 
Gannon opened the scoring in the tenth minute with Del Castillo doing the honors. the All-American fired a free kick from 20 yards out around the wall and into the right corner of the net past goalkeeper Austin Aaron.
 
The lead grew to 2-0 just before halftime on Querling's second goal of the season. The junior forward took a pass from Sverre Orten (Orsta, Norway) and from the right wing found the left corner from 10 yards out. Thanks to the goal at 42:50 Gannon took a 2-0 lead into halftime.
 
Wheeling came out pressuring the Gannon goal in the second half and would cut the lead to 2-1 on a Christian Ruud goal at 53:15. The goal came on a breakaway with Ruud chipping the ball over David Synstelien's (Gjovik, Norway/Gjovik Vinderegaende) head from 20 yards out.
 
Gannon countered with three goals in a span of ten minutes to blow the match open. Del Castillo accounted for the first two. He scored his second goal of the night on a penalty kick at 54:31, looking right and firing into the left corner.

"Everyone said to me, 'Come on, Sergio, get your hat trick,' and I went for it," Del Castillo said. 
 
The next two goals came two minutes apart. Del Castillo made it 4-1 on a beautiful goal that featured a crossing pass from the far right wing by Pau Ferrer (Valencia, Spain), with Querling redirecting to Del Castillo on the left side of the net. That goal came at 62:19, and at 64:16 it became 5-1 when Aanberg scored his first goal of the season with Del Castillo assisting for his fourth point of the night.
 
The two teams traded goals after that. Diego Buenano scored for the Cardinals at 68:29, with freshman Toyama scoring his first career goal with just under four minutes to play. Tinashe Katsande (Norwich, England/Dereham Sixth Form College) assisted on the goal.

"It's really good to get six goals," Del Castillo said. "Also, we lost our last game and tied the other one, so it's really good to come back here and score six goals. Only bad thing is two goals against; we have to keep working on that, but it feels amazing."
 
Gannon outshot Wheeling 25-16, including 12-4 in the first half. The Golden Knights had eight corner kicks to three for the Cardinals. Synstelien played all 90 minutes in goal and finished with four saves while Aaron had five saves.
 
 The Golden Knights look to continue their offensive revival on Monday, September 19 playing at D'Youville in a non-conference match. Start time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Buffalo.
 
 
 
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