The Berkeley College women's soccer team opened up its 2016 season on Monday evening with a match against the Patriots of Valley Forge University at Aviator Field in Brooklyn, NY. The Knights put forth a valiant effort, but came up short, falling to the Patriots by a score of 2-0. The victory for Valley Forge University was only its second of the season, as the Patriots improved to 2-7 on the year, while the Knights are 0-1.

After 37 minutes of scoreless soccer, Valley Forge University finally broke through at 38:00 for the contest's first goal when Olivia Strohm netted a goal off of a beautiful lead pass from Brianna Spellman to give her team a 1-0 edge. That would be the score as the teams broke for halftime.

In the second half, the Patriots scored an insurance goal (at 51:12) when Kelsey Morrison stole a goal kick and slipped the ball past Knights netminder Ayashaii Vernon to give her team a 2-0 advantage. The Knights were not able to register a shot over the final 38:48 of the match, as Valley Forge University held on to win by the aforementioned 2-0 score.

The Patriots held a 22-3 advantage in the shots category, while also getting five corner kick opportunities compared to one for the Knights. Valley Forge University goaltender Taniyah Faison only needed to make one step in recording a shutout, while Berkeley's Vernon did a fantastic job of keeping her team in the game, making 14 saves while only allowing the two goals.

The Knights will look to bounce back on Wednesday evening as Berkeley College will take on The King's College (NY) at Aviator Field in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. Start-time for that match is scheduled for 6:30pm.