One, just a sophomore, is in the infancy of what could become a record-setting career in Westfield.

The other, a senior, is approaching career milestones that will see him go down as one of the best Western New York has ever seen.

Experienced matter on Wednesday.

The Cardinals’ Cooper Freeman netted his second hat trick of the season to lead his team to a 3-0 victory over Westfield/Brocton.

Photo courtesy of Mike Frame Randolph’s Cooper Freeman attempts to get between Westfield/Brocton’s Tahner Stow, left, and Anthony Gatto, right, during Wednesday’s nonleague boys soccer game at Raymond Van Wie Stadium in Randolph.

Freeman is now up to nine goals on the season and just two short of the 100-goal milestone for his career.

“We see it in practice every single day. He’s amazing,” Randolph head coach David Pihlblad said. “His work ethic, everything about him, is just fantastic.”

The Wolverines’ Braylon Swanson, who scored five goals en route to Westfield/Brocton (2-1-0) winning the Dunkirk Championship Cup over the weekend, was held scoreless for the first time this season.

Randolph (2-1-0) appeared to break through in the sixth minute of Wednesday’s game, but an apparent goal was called back due to an offside call. It didn’t take long for the Cardinals to score a goal that counted.

In the 11th minute, Cody Slade slid a ball to Freeman, who beat a pair of Westfield/Brocton defenders to the right of the Wolverines’ goalkeeper Nolan Anderson before scoring inside the far goalpost for a 1-0 lead.

“Every game so far this year, the first 20 minutes has been really good. We come out with energy,” Pihlblad said. “We seem to let off a little bit after we score a couple. … Hopefully it’s something we can fix.”

Just over eight minutes later, Freeman struck again. Again, Slide found an open Freeman, who powered a shot past Anderson after the just keeper nearly made the save. The assist was Slade’s sixth of the season, five of them to Freeman.

“They are really good, skill-wise and speed. They’ve played together since they were little kids,” Pihlblad said of Freeman and Slade. ” … That 1-2 combo up top is pretty fantastic for us.”

In the 33rd minute, Freeman took things into his own hands — or feet. After stealing a long clear around 40 yards away from the Westfield/Brocton net, Freeman dribbled to the left side of the 18-yard line, cut from his left to his right, and then drilled a shot with his right foot for a 3-0 lead.

“We didn’t play poorly in the first half, we just gave up too much room to Cooper in the beginning,” Westfield/Brocton head coach Neil Huber said.

Word spread that Freeman was closing in on the 100-goal milestone at halftime and it appeared the Wolverines were not going to let it happen in the second half.

“It’s going to be something we face every game. Everybody in the area knows how good Cooper is,” Pihlblad said. “It’s one thing to have a gameplan, it’s another thing to stop him.”

In the 44th minute, Freeman was taken down inside the 18-yard box and awarded a penalty kick, but Anderson made a diving stop for one of his seven saves to his left to deny the Randolph sniper his 99th career goal.

“I talked to Nolan as a freshman and it was a strategic plan to move him up as a ninth-grader. I knew going forward what he would have in front of him so he could learn to be that keeper,” Huber said. “He made that save and it could have potentially changed the game.”

The action immediately went the other way and the Wolverines came away with arguably their two best chances of the afternoon, but Cardinals junior goalkeeper Randall Nottingham made two of his five saves to preserve the clean sheet.

“We made some adjustments. I have a young team. My guys stepped up and decided they were going to play what we wanted to play. We got away from what our gameplan is in the first half,” Huber said. “It’s a learning experience for us. Randolph is going to be a top-tier team. We have to learn that when things don’t go our way immediately, we have to learn to adjust.”

Nottingham was not really tested more than that as Randolph’s back line of senior Parker Patterson, junior Malachi Brown, sophomore Grady Steward and freshman Tanner Patterson were more than up to the task of slowing Swanson and the rest of the Westfield/Brocton attack.

“We’ve been working a lot defensively. We have three new guys back there from last year’s team so it’s a work in progress,” Pihlblad said. “We have some young guys back there, but they’re smart and they’re always in the right position. Parker Patterson has been a great leader this year stepping up and organizing us.”

If the Wolverines don’t want Freeman to achieve his milestone against them, they’ll have to be even better Tuesday when the two teams meet again in Westfield.

“I’m proud of how my guys played today. We made some nice plays,” Huber said. “I know they are a little disappointed, but I think we have them again next week at our place. Playing on grass does make a difference.”