MADISON, N.J. - Junior Kevin Kiernan netted his first collegiate hat trick, scoring three goals to lift the Drew University men's soccer team to a 5-0 victory over DeSales University in a non-conference matchup Wednesday evening in Ranger Stadium.

Kiernan posted the first hat trick by a Ranger since Aidan Cserhat C'20 scored three goals in a 5-1 win over Pfeiffer College on Sept. 8, 2019, which also marked the last five-goal output by Drew. It was also the fourth career multi-goal output for Kiernan.

The Rangers (5-2-2) scored once in the opening half on Kiernan's first goal before settling any doubt with a big second half. Drew outshot DeSales 21-9 and held a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Freshman Jacob Avni made six saves for the Rangers while posting his second straight shutout and fourth of the season.

Drew applied pressure early and often, outshooting DeSales 12-3 in the opening half. Junior Tino Puentes nearly put the Rangers on the scoreboard in the 13th minute, blasting a shot in transition that Bulldog keeper Elias Marshall leaped to punch away.

The Blue and Green broke through on their eighth shot of the game. Freshman Nate Keller delivered a cross from the right corner that was kicked aside by a defender. Kiernan came down with the ball at the top of the box and with a bit of open space, sliced a shot through traffic and inside the left post for his first goal of the year.

The Rangers survived a scare late in the opening half following a DeSales corner. Avni knocked down the cross before Elek McDonald drilled a high shot that Avni leaped to knock away one-handed. 

Drew nearly scored again in the final minute of the opening half, when freshman Owen Edwards broke loose in transition and lobbed a ball over the keeper, but his shot glanced off the crossbar and the Rangers led 1-0 at the half.

DeSales (4-2-1) threatened again early in the second period, when off of a corner Avni left his feet to make another stop on a potential game-tying shot.

The floodgates opened in the 62nd minute. Sophomore Jonathan Gutierrez recovered the ball in the attacking third and sent a short pass to Kiernan, who took one touch and sent a low shot into the lower-left corner of the net to make it a 2-0 game.

Five minutes later, sophomore Gabe Di Pierro took a centering pass from classmate James Cahill and sent home from the top of the arc for his first goal of the season. 

Kiernan accomplished his hat trick in the 70th minute. Keller sent in a perfect cross from the right corner, and Kiernan one-timed it off one bounce and past a diving keeper for his third goal of the game and the season.

Sophomore Ethan Steinbiss provided the finishing touches, chasing down a long pass from senior Federico Vazquez and beating the keeper 1-on-1 for his second tally of the season.

The Rangers now finish out the regular season with eight consecutive Landmark Conference games, starting with a home tilt with Elizabethtown College on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.