The Berkeley College New York men's soccer team picked up a big victory on Wednesday evening, defeating the Lions of The King's College (NY) by a score of 2-1 in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match. The contest took place at Aviator Field in Brooklyn, NY. With the win, the Knights are now 3-4 on the year (1-0 HVIAC), while the Lions dipped to 6-2 (1-2 HVIAC).
A season ago, the two teams had met back on September 27, 2017, also at Aviator Field. That match was an instant classic, with the teams tying 3-3. Fast forward 364 days, and the two squads gave fans another intense matchup, with Berkeley College doing enough all-around to secure the win.
The King's College (NY) struck first in this one when Diego Herrera blasted a shot from about 45-50 yards out. Herrera was able to get enough power into his kick, and the ball had just enough finesse to stay in the air long enough to get over the head of Knights netminder Dario Cruz Sepulveda to give his team a 1-0 edge 39:10 into the match. Berkeley College didn't wait long to answer back, though, as just 61 seconds later, veteran Marcos Leon (from Tcharly Verna) would score his first goal of the season to tie the game at one apiece.
The difference-making goal in this game came 52:19 into the contest, when newcomer Jean-Gardy Derineau would find the back of the net (off a pass from Josue Jimenez) to catapult the Knights to a 2-1 advantage. For Jean-Gardy Derineau, it was his fourth goal of the season. He has now accounted for half of Berkeley College's goals on the 2018 season (four of the team's eight).
Berkeley College out-shot The King's College (NY) by a count of 16-10. The fouls were nearly even, with the Lions committing 15, and the Knights 14.
Sepulveda made four saves and allowed just the one goal in front of a stellar Knights defense that played tough all evening long. The Lions' Craig Wishart made four saves and yielded two goals.
The Knights have now have now won two consecutive thrilling games, and will look to carry that momentum into another big conference match on Saturday, as Berkeley will take on SUNY-ESF. The match will take place at the College of Staten Island. Start-time is scheduled for 3:00pm.