New Jersey men's soccer team registers rain-soaked 2-1 overtime victory over Penn State Brandywine on Senior Day

New Jersey men's soccer team registers rain-soaked 2-1 overtime victory over Penn State Brandywine on Senior Day

The Berkeley College New Jersey men's soccer team picked up one of the biggest victories in its program's history on Tuesday afternoon, turning back the defending USCAA Division II National champions, Penn State Brandywine, by a score of 2-1 in overtime. The match took place at Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ. With the win, Berkeley improved to a mark of 10-5-1 on the 2019 season. On the flip side, the Nittany Lions had their 11-match win streak snapped, a streak that saw Penn State Brandywine shut out 10 teams.

Prior to the match, the Berkeley College Department of Athletics honored seniors Tiago DaCosta, Wolfgang Whalen, Gennaro Vittorioso, Arturo Layza, Jose Sosa, Tiago Afonso, and Jordan Bailey. Each senior was presented with a commemorative plaque in a show of appreciation for their years of dedication and sacrifice for the New Jersey men's soccer program.

The match was played in a steady rain that only became more intense as the match progressed. The Nittany Lions got on the scoreboard first when Gavin Birch capitalized on a nifty pass into the box by Alex Lopez before burying the ball into the net to give his team a 1-0 advantage.

Penn State Brandywine held that 1-0 lead until the late stages of the second session. Berkeley College's Salaimon Sarwari drew a hard foul, giving Berkeley College a free kick from about 20 yards out. Christopher Azevedo blasted a low lining kick that bounced once before getting under the hands of Nittany Lions goalkeeper Juan Guerrero and into the net to make it 1-1 (at 82:57). That would be the final goal scored in regulation.

In overtime, Azevedo was involved in another scoring play for Berkeley, this time lifting a ball into the box that was headed in by Matthew DaCosta to give the Knights an exhilarating victory.

Knights netminder Robert Parker picked up the victory in net, making three saves in the process. Berkeley College's shutdown defense allowed just nine total shots by the defending National titlists.  

Berkeley College has now won 17 of its last 26 matches dating back to last season, and the Knights will look to put another one in the win column when they finalize their 2019 regular season this Sunday at Fisher College. Start-time is scheduled for 2:30pm, and live stats are available at the link below:

https://www.fisherfalcons.com/sports/msoc/2019-20/boxscores/20191027_mhtx.xml