For the second time since 2017, the Berkeley College New Jersey men's soccer team is 2-0 to start a season, as earlier this afternoon, the Knights shut down the Nittany Lions of Penn State New Kensington by a score of 3-0. Berkeley also won for the 14th time in 16 regular season matches against Penn State schools.
Following a scoreless opening half which saw the two teams register just a combined nine shots (six by Berkeley, three by the Nittany Lions), the Knights turned up the voltage in the second half, notching three goals in a span of 37:20 to run away with the victory.
Newcomer Esteban Pedrueza scored what turned out to be the game-winner just 24 seconds into the second stanza. That goal was assisted by veteran Marcos Hidalgo. Pedrueza added another goal at 76:23 (from Christopher Acevedo) to increase the Knights' edge to 2-0, before first-year Knight Anderson Amador capped the scoring by tallying a goal at 83:44 (assisted by Erick Carabante and Jordan Bailey).
Berkeley dominated the second half in shots, registering 14 to Penn State New Kensington's two.
Senior Robert Parker logged 82 minutes for Berkeley, not allowing a goal. Rookie Klae Nicholson recorded the final eight minutes in net, and didn't face a hot.
Nttany Lions netminder Joshua Zakrzewski, made seven stops in net despite taking the loss (three goals allowed).
The Knights will look to make it three consecutive victories to start the season, as they'll stay on the road to battle Christendom on Friday. Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 4:30pm.