Georges’ Hat-Trick Propels Men’s Soccer Past Valley Forge

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. — Junior Mateusz Georges (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Utrecht) recorded his first collegiate hat trick and sophomore Kenneth Garcia (Elmhurst, N.Y/Bayside) added a pair of goals as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's soccer team never trailed in a 5-1 non-conference triumph over the University of Valley Forge on Saturday afternoon.

The Patriots (1-3) pulled within one in the second half, but the Bears (2-5) found the back of the net three times in less than three minutes to put the game out of reach.

How It Happened

The Bears were the early aggressors and gaining three quick corners and firing off four shots before Georges opened the scoring 12 minutes in off a feed from Garcia. St. Joseph's continued to generate opportunities, outshooting the hosts 13-7 in the period, but struggled to get the ball on net.

The Bears built a 2-0 cushion when Thomas Mastoras () found Garcia in the 33rd minute. Valley Forge threatened three minutes later with a shot by Jimmy Lee that hit the post, but SJC carried the two-goal cushion into the lockers.

The Patriots halved the deficit to 2-1 less than 10 minutes into the second stanza off a Velkin Escobar penalty kick. But the navy and white quickly responded rattling off three straight goals in the 62nd (Georges), 63rd (Georges), and 65th (Garcia) minutes to build a four-goal cushion.

SJC controlled the remainder of action in the period allowing just two more shots and the Bears finished with a 17-4 shot advantage in the half.

For the Bears

• Georges matched his career total goals with his first hat-trick.
• Garcia leads the Skyline with his seventh goal in as many games played and has surpassed his rookie season total of six. He now moves up to third all-time in Bears history in goals scored.
• Four different Bears logged an assist. Mastoras with his team-leading third of the season, Garcia, Brandon Georges (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Utrecht), and Joseph Sepulveda (East Elmhurst, N.Y. / Bayside)
• Sophomore keeper Alejandro Oliveros (Brooklyn, N.Y./Grover Cleveland) made four saves to pick up the win in net.
• The four-goal margin of victory was the most since a 4-0 win over York in 2016.

Next Up for the Bears

St. Joseph's will have one final tune-up before beginning Skyline Conference play, heading back to the Garden State to face New Jersey City University on Wednesday (Sep. 19) at 4 p.m. Link to live stats for the matinee will be available on SJCBears.com