The Berkeley College New Jersey men's soccer team (0-1) opened up its 2015 campaign on Tuesday evening, falling to the Bulldogs of DeSales University (1-0) by a score of 2-1 in a game played at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ.
After a scoreless opening half, DeSales netted two goals in a span of 4:04 – the first tally by Zach Reichard (at 50:47), and the second by Max Cortina (at 54:51) – to take a 2-0 advantage. A little less than 23 minutes later, the Knights pulled to within one when Wender Lima was credited with a goal when a ball deflected off of a Bulldogs defender and into the net. That made the score 2-1 in favor DeSales.
The Bulldogs' defense stepped up in a big way following the Knights' goal in the 78th minute, as DeSales allowed just one more Berkeley shot the rest of the way in ultimately preserving the one goal lead and hanging on for a 2-1 victory. Following the game, Knights Head Coach Bruno Ferreira gave his thoughts.
"There are certainly things that we need to work on, but I also believe that we have the potential to be a very good team in the USCAA this season," Ferreira said. "We need to minimize our mistakes and play smart soccer. I'm confident that we will learn from this one and improve. We have two challenging games this weekend, and I expect our guys to be ready."
DeSales held a 19-9 edge in the shots category. The Bulldogs also had five corner kicks to the Knights' two.
Berkeley College will return to action on Friday afternoon, as the Knights will take to the road to battle Christendom. Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 5:00pm.
