In a match that was added late to the schedule in order to keep Berkeley College's New York men's soccer team fresh for the upcoming USCAA National Men's Soccer Tournament, the Knights fell to the Yeshiva University Maccabees by a score of 9-5 Friday afternoon at the Votee Sportsplex in Teaneck, NJ. The loss by Berkeley was its first since October 7 at SUNY Maritime, and dropped the Knights to 14-6 on the 2015 campaign, while Yeshiva improved its record on the year to 7-7-2.
In perhaps one of the wildest losses ever suffered by Berkeley College's New York's men's soccer team, the Knights relinquished a 5-2 advantage, as Yeshiva University ran off seven consecutive goals to run away from the Knights.
The Maccabees scored the first two goals of the contest, as Rafi Friedman (from Itamar Ben David at 2:50) an Daniel Amar (from Ben David at 18:11) notched tallies to give Yeshiva University an early 2-0 advantage. Berkeley College rallied back in a big way, depositing five goals into the net in a span of 13:17 (three goals from Hasan Sezer, one by Essofi Amine, and another from Haakon Schjelderup) to take a 5-2 lead.
The score remained 5-2 in favor of Berkeley until Yeshiva's Ben David took advantage of a penalty kick at 42:32, as he blasted a ball past Knights netminder Samuel Nortey to make it 5-3 in favor of Berkeley.
Perhaps that goal swung the momentum back in favor of the Maccabees, who were relentless on the offensive side in the second session. Amar would net a penalty kick goal at 57:55 to bring his team within a goal at 5-4 – and just 3:35 later at 61:30 – Amar would strike again – this time collecting a beautiful lead pass from Aaron Braun and burying the ball into the net to knot the game at five goals apiece.
Neither team was able to break through for the tie-breaking goal over the ensuing 13:10. Yeshiva University finally broke the tie at 74:40 when Ben David scored his second goal of the game by blasting home a free kick to give the Maccabees a 6-5 lead. A little less than four minutes later (at 78:20) – Amar notched a penalty kick goal to bump his team's advantage to a pair of scores at 7-5. Yeshiva University's Adir Alon would account for the match's final two goals, as he scored at 85:46 (from Julia Ribak) and at 87:36 (from Sammy Azair).
Berkeley College held an 18-16 advantage in shots, while also attempting seven corner kicks compared to four for Yeshiva University. The Knights where whistled for three offsides on the afternoon compared to one for the Maccabees.
The Knights – who earned an automatic bid to compete for a National crown by winning the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship this past Sunday – will enter as the USCAA National Men's Soccer Tourmanent as the No. 4 seeded team. The Knights will take on No. 5 seeded Concordia College Alabama on Thursday, November 5, at 2:00pm. To follow the Knights in their quest for a National Championship, visit the USCAA website – www.theUSCAA.com. Recaps of all Berkeley College contests will be available by the Knights' athletics website at www.berkeleycollegeknights.com.