The Berkeley College New Jersey men's soccer team continued to roll on Tuesday afternoon, turning back the Nittany Lions of Penn State Hazleton by a score of 4-2 in a match that took place at Community Park in Hazleton, PA. With the victory, the Knights improved their record to 3-1 on the young season, while Penn State Hazleton slipped to 1-3 with the defeat
Berkeley got on the board early as newcomer Calvin Carbajal netted a goal at the 3:39 mark of the opening session to give his team a 1-0 advantage. The Knights tacked on another goal 15 minutes later as Anthony Hernandez found the back of the net to push Berkeley College's edge to 2-0 with 26 minutes remaining in the opening half.
Perhaps the most crucial play of the half came on a Berkeley College break during the 28th minute. The Nittany Lions' Bernardo Becerra earned a red card after committing a hard foul, and that infraction put the Lions down a man.
Still, Penn State Hazleton wouldn't quit. In the second half, Jason Klusewitz collected a pass at the top corner of the box from teammate Ben Pasukinis and beat the keeper to cut the deficit in half. Hazleton controlled the ball early in the session, but Berkeley regained much of the possession time and controlled the field over the next 20 minutes.
Later – Penn State Hazleton's Isaac Whitenight hit a free kick from just inside midfield--the ball took a bounce off the ground and another hop right over the keeper's outstretched hand to even the score at 2-2. The Knights would get the goal back in a hurry, though, as Carbajal scored just three minutes later to give the Knights the lead again a 3-2, an advantage Berkeley College would not relinquish.
Standout Matthew Neto added an insurance goal in the 77th minute to push the Knights' lead to 4-2. That score would remain the same for the remainder of the contest, as Berkeley went on to win their third consecutive match.
Carbajal scored two goals for the Knights, while Klusewitz put forth a very impressive performance for Hazleton. Berkeley College's defense would bend, but would not break in this contest, and netminder Robert Parker would earn the win in net, allowing just the two goals while stopping three shots. Nittany Lion netminder Brandon Yocum made 16 saves despite the loss.
The Knights will return to action against two more Penn State schools this weekend, as Berkeley will face Penn State Wilkes-Barre on Friday at 6:30pm, before taking on Penn State Mont Alto Saturday at 3:00pm.
