The Berkeley College New York men's soccer team wrapped up its regular season on Wednesday afternoon, falling to the Sound of Five Towns College in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match by a score of 4-3 in a match that took place in Dix Hills, NY.
For the Knights, not only was it their first and only conference loss this season, it also broke Berkeley's streak of five consecutive conference matches without allowing a goal. Berkeley dipped to 10-6-1 on the year with the defeat (5-1 HVIAC), and will still enter this weekend's HVIAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed.
In a match that would feature three ties and four lead changes, Berkeley took the lead first in the fifth minute. A Five Towns foul provided the Knights a set-piece from 40 yards out. Five Towns netminder Mouhamed Diop Dia misplayed the ball, allowing Berkeley College veteran Meshema Charles to take advantage, as he tapped the ball into the back of the net to give his team a 1-0 edge.
The Sound's Anthony Molina tied the match in the 15th minute, taking advantage of Adrian Santos' pass to the near back post by playing the ball off his chest and blasting it into the net to make it a 1-1 match. Five Towns College took the lead in the 37th minute when Santos scored (Robinson Munoz registered the assist). Berkeley tied the game in the 42nd minute when Tcharly Verna netted a goal (Marcos Leon was credited with the assist). Time would then expire on the first half, with the match tied 2-2.
The Knights retook the lead two minutes into the second half on a goal from Jonathan Russell, but the Sound answered in the 50th minute when William Rivera would score off a cross from the left side from Molina to make it 3-3. Later in the session, Adrian Wong scored the game-winning goal in the 55th minute of play, with Munoz registering his second assist of the match. Wong fired a shot from the top of the 18-yard box past the diving keeper for a 4-3 lead that would hold for the remainder of the game.
Berkeley College out-shot Five Towns College by a count of 17-14 for the match.
The Knights will return to action on Saturday afternoon, as No. 1 seeded Berkeley will take on No. 4 seeded Five Towns College in a rematch, with the teams set to meet in the semifinals of the 2019 HVIAC Men's Soccer Tournament. The match, which takes place at Albany College of Pharmacy, starts at 3:00pm. Those looking to follow live stats of the contest can do so by clicking the link below:
https://www.berkeleycollegeknights.com/sports/msoc/new_york/2019-20/boxscores/20191026_jjir.xml
