A month and a day ahead of Halloween, the Muhlenberg men's soccer team treated its fans to a trick.

Senior Taylan Akdag recorded his first career hat trick to lead the 22nd-ranked Mules to a 5-1 win against Gettysburg in a rematch of last year's Centennial Conference quarterfinal.

The win kept Muhlenberg (7-1-1, 3-0-1) tied with Washington for first place in the CC. The Mules finished with a 17-3 advantage in shots; in two CC games this week since earning their first national ranking of the season, the Mules outscored their opponents 8-1 and outshot them 41-7.

Akdag finished a cross from senior Brandin Osborne to the far post in the 18th minute, sent a pass from sophomore Elie Khalil inside the near post in the 31st minute and converted a penalty kick in the 70th minute. It was the first hat trick by a Muhlenberg player at home since 2008 and the first against Gettysburg since 1969. 

The three goals gave Akdag 20 for his career and made him the eighth player in program history to record 20 goals and 20 assists.

The Mules opened the scoring in the eighth minute when senior Chris Richards, the last Mule to score a hat trick (last year at Dickinson), made a scintillating run through the box, beating four Gettysburg defenders and finishing for his 33rd career goal.

Akdag's first two goals made it 3-0 at the half. The Bullets (3-3-2, 1-1-2) broke up the shutout in the 59th minute, but Akdag's third goal put the game out of reach.

The final goal came with 9:14 remaining after sophomore Will Curtis IV pressure the Gettysburg goalie into making a hasty clearing pass. Khalil intercepted it and shot the ball into the net to give Muhlenberg five goals against Gettysburg for the first time since 1989.

pictured above: Akdag (with fist raised) celebrates with Richards