The Berkeley College New York men's soccer team played its season-opening match on Saturday afternoon, falling in tough fashion to the Falcons of Fisher College by a score of 5-4 in overtime at Hormel Stadium in Medford, Massachusetts.
Fisher College's Jordan Markovich started things off on the right foot for the Falcons, netting the first goal of the game with just 4:39 into the opening session. The Falcons held that one goal advantage for just a few short minutes before the Knights were able to net the equalizer at the 7:15 mark when veteran Ali Dawha received a beautiful pass from Osondu Esonwune before buying the ball into the net.
Later – in the 17th minute – Markovich passed a ball over to Robert Milne who buried a ball into the net as Fisher College retook the lead at 2-1. The remainder of the opening session would belong to Ali Dawha, though, as he would score two more goals (at the 27:15 and 37:03 marks, respectively) to put the Knights ahead by the score of 3-2. That score would remain the same for the final 7:57 of the half, as the Knights confidently held a one-goal edge at the break.
At the 46:42 mark of the second half, Berkeley's Solomon Ahanaonu increased the Knights' advantage to two goals at 4-2 over the Falcons by scoring an unassisted goal. Fisher College would rally, though. The Falcons' Markovich took possession of the ball in the 62nd minute and crossed it over to Milne on the left side of the field. Milne then maneuvered past a defender and blasted a shot into the net to bring his team to within a goal at 4-3.
Later - in the 83rd minute - Markovich sent a corner kick right in front of the net where all players attacked the ball, but the defender got just over Tom Pugliese, and Pugliese put the ball in the net to tie the game at four goals apiece with 6:29 remaining in the game. Neither team was able to score a go-ahead goal during the waning stages of regulation, so the match headed to overtime.
In the overtime period, it was Tyler Gahara netting a goal 6:18 into the extra period to give Fisher College a thrilling, come-from-behind 5-4 victory.
Berkeley College rookie Osvin Videz Vasquez made 13 stops in goal for the Knights despite playing all 96:18 and taking the loss.
The Knights will return to action on Wednesday evening, as Berkeley College will play both its Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener as well as its home opener against Webb Institute. The match will take place at Aviator Field in Brooklyn, NY, and start time is scheduled for 7:00pm.
