A piston cooling system and associated piston are provided which effectively cools and lubricates the upper crown portion of a piston and the connecting rod/piston pin area using a single cooling nozzle. The piston cooling system includes a piston having a cooling gallery, a cooling nozzle positioned to direct cooling oil through a flow path to the entrance of the cooling gallery, and a deflecting surface positioned in the flow path to deflect a portion of the cooling oil into a deflected flow path toward the connecting rod and piston pin area. The deflecting surface may be formed on a baffle plate positioned as the bottom wall of the cooling gallery or may be integrally formed on the piston body.