The New York men's soccer team dropped a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Panthers of Albany College of Pharmacy by a score of 4-1 at the ACPHS Turf Athletic Field and Track in Albany, NY. With the loss, Berkeley dipped to a record of 4-4 on the 2014 campaign, and 2-1 in HVIAC competition. Albany Pharmacy - the conference's top team record wise - improve its mark 3-2-1 on the season, and 2-0 in HVIAC play.
After the teams battled for 19 scoreless minutes, the Panthers got on the board first when Kyle Jenkins knocked in a ball off of a corner kick by teammate Zack Giorgi. That was just the beginning of Giorgi's stellar afternoon, as the standout would notch a pair of goals at 33:05 and 39:17 to give his team a comfortable 3-0 edge. At the half, Albany Pharmacy found themselves with a three-goal advantage.
In the second session, the Panthers ballooned their lead to 4-0 when Giorgi would notch his third goal of the day at 61:16. The Knights continued to play hard, eventually getting a goal from Johan Hildingsson at 79:21. That goal pulled Berkeley College to within three goals, but that is as close as the Knights would get as Albany Pharmacy held on for a 4-1 victory.
Panthers netminder Matt Houlihan picked up the victory for his team in net, stopping five shots and allowing just one goal. Renzo Loaiza took the defeat in goal for Berkeley College, as he allowed four goals and made seven saves.
Albany Pharmacy out-shot Berkeley College 19-10, and Berkeley held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks. The Knights committed 18 fouls to the Panthers' 14. Following the loss, Knights Head Coach Stavros Zomopoulous gave his thoughts.
"Albany Pharmacy was just better than us today, so we have to tip our caps to them," Zomopoulous said. "We've been giving good efforts, and I fully expect that we'll bounce back on Wednesday."
The Knights return to action this Wednesday against Briarcliffe College. The game will take place at Aviator Field in Brooklyn, NY, and start-time is scheduled for 5:00pm.