The Berkeley College New York men's soccer team picked up a must-win on Saturday evening, turning back the Steels of Culinary Institute of America by a score of 6-1 in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest at Aviator Field in Brooklyn, NY. With the win, the Knights snapped a four-match losing streak, and improved to a mark of 3-7 on the 2016 campaign, including record of 3-2 in HVIAC play. Culinary Institute of America dipped to 2-7 overall, and 2-3 in league play with the defeat.
Prior to the contest, the Berkeley College Department of Athletics took a few moments to honor four seniors – Salim Drammeh, Sebastien Rousseau, Solomon Ahanaonu, and Raouf Chouiref– in a special pregame ceremony. Each student-athlete was presented with a commemorative plaque by Director of Athletics Andy DeStephano, Athletic Coordinator Stephen Spagnoli, and Head Coach Stavros Zomopoulos.
When the match started, the Knights went to work. Standout Osondu Esonwune picked up a goal just 27 seconds into the contest, collecting a through ball from Chouiref before blasting the ball home to give the Knights an early 1-0 lead. Later – at the 14:24 mark – Esonwune would strike again, this time collecting a pass from Chourief before depositing the ball into the net to give Berkeley College a 2-0 advantage.
Esonwune wasn't done, though. At the 23:44 mark, Yannick Mabuye attempted a free kick, and that kick was deflected and rebounded by Esonwune who would slip another ball into the net to catapult the Knights to a 3-0 advantage. Emmanuel Poku-Adusei would cap the first half scoring, as he would record a goal off of a shot from inside the box to give the Knights a 4-0 lead. That would be Berkeley College's advantage as the team's headed into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, the Knights continued to put the Steels away. At the 54:19 mark, it was Dawha scoring his team-leading 13th goal of the season, blasting home a ball from 15 yards away. Seven seconds later – Dawha would assist on Esonwune's fourth goal of the evening, as the Knights pushed ahead by the commanding score of 6-0.
Culinary Institute of America wasn't able to get much going offensively for the remainder of the match, other than a late goal by Brent Goodbrake at 86:37. That cut the Knights' lead to 6-1, and that would turn out to be the final goal scored by either side for the night.
Berkeley College dominated the contest from start to finish, out-shooting the Steels by a count of 23-10. The Knights had eight corner kick opportunities compared to three for Culinary Institute of America, and the Steels committed five fouls to the Knights' four.
Osvin Videz Vasquez allowed just one goal for Berkeley College while stopping four shots. Steels netminder Nathan Gutcher made 13 saves despite allowing the six goals.
The Knights will return to action on Monday evening, as Berkeley College will take on the College of New Rochelle at Flowers Park in another Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. Start-time is scheduled for 8:00pm.
