The Berkeley College New Jersey men's soccer team picked up its first victory of the 2016 campaign on Saturday evening, shutting out Washington Adventist University by a score of 2-0 in a contest that took place on the Shock's Turf Field in Takoma Park, Maryland. With the victory, the Knights improved to a mark of 1-1 on the season, while the Shock dipped to 2-1 on the year.
The contest remained scoreless until the latter stages of the opening session, when the Knights would finally break through for the match's first tally. A pair of newcomers combined on the goal for Berkeley College, as Patryk Praszek swung a beautiful lead pass to Calvin Carbajal who then zipped the ball into the net- past Washington Adventist netminder Pedro Merino – to give his team a 1-0 advantage. The Knights would hold that 1-0 lead as time expired on the first half.
In the second session – defense continued to be the theme – as Berkeley College continue to hold the slimmest of advantages – a one-goal lead – as play entered the 87th minute. That is when the Knights would put the game away, as Neto would score a huge insurance goal (off a pass from Lucas Vasconcellos) to give his team a 2-0 edge (at the 87:09 mark). Berkeley would hold the Shock at bay over the final 2:51 of the contest, eventually going on to win the game by the aforementioned 2-0 score.
The Knights' defense did a stellar job all evening long, as Berkeley allowed just five Washington Adventist University shots in the opening half, and just another six in the second session. Goalkeeper Robert Parker recorded a shutout, making four saves.
Berkeley out-shot Washington Adventist by a margin of 19-11, while the Shock held a 6-3 edge in corner kick opportunities.
The Knights will look to make it two victories in a row as Berkeley College will travel to Front Royal, Virginia to battle Christendom on Sunday afternoon. Start time for that contest is scheduled for 3:00pm.
