The Berkeley College men's soccer team began its 2024 season this past weekend, splitting a pair of games at the Penn State Mont Alto Labor Day Classic in Mont Alto, PA. On Friday evening, as Knights dominated the Crusaders by a score of 8-1. The following afternoon, Berkeley was edged by Central Penn by a score of 2-1. The Knights are now 1-1 on the season.
In the Knights' victory over Christendom, Berkeley College overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit to grab the convincing triumph. The Crusaders opened the scoring in the ninth minute (8:45) when Michael Townsend tapped home Sean Corcoran's lead pass. The season opener was all Berkeley after that.
At 48:13, newcomer Fernando Morales found the back of the net, slashing home Gabriel Ocaris' feed to make it 1-1. Consecutive goals by freshman Jason DeJesus (58:14, from Joseph Buel, and 59:54, from Suad Lukovic) put Berkeley ahead by a score of 3-1. Morales scored his second goal of the game at 62:09, an unassisted tally, to make it 4-1 Knights.
Berkeley continued to push offensively, netting its fifth goal at 67:07 when Ocaris capitalized on a beautiful pass from Samuel Gomez, smashing it home to increase the Knights' edge to 5-1. Rounding out the scoring was Steven Urbes (73:49, from Marco DaSilva), DaSilva (81:37, from Urbes), and Urbes again (89:41, unassisted).
Victor Batista earned the victory in net for Berkeley College, allowing just one goal in 72:03 of action. The Knights' stellar defense allowed only two shots the entire contest. Berkeley netminders Jack Giannini and Dominik Usau combined to log 17:57 in net, not facing a shot. Christendom goalkeeper Lucas Boada faced 26 shots, allowing eight goals and making 18 saves in taking the loss.
The Knights held a dominant 43-2 edge in shots.
The following day, in a match against Central Penn, the script flipped on Berkeley. Against Christendom, Berkeley yielded the first goal, yet still won the match. Against Central Penn, Berkeley notched the first goal, but surrendered two straight to come up on the short end, losing 2-1.
DeJesus scored Berkeley's goal, slashing home DaSilva's pass at 23:42. An unassisted tally by Mark Haye at 36:13 tied the match at one goal apiece, and later, Gio Fusillo (75:16, from Grant Bernstein) scored the game-winner.
Central Penn goalkeeper Jose Hurtado was masterful in net, stopping 11 shots and only allowing one goal while registering the victory. Batista made three saves and yielded two goals, taking the defeat for Berkeley.
Berkeley lost the contest despite registering 26 shots compared to eight for Central Penn.
The Knights will return to the pitch on Friday afternoon, as Berkeley stays on the road to battle Penn State New Kensington. Start-time is scheduled for 4:00pm.
