Release courtesy of Berkeley Athletics
The Berkeley College New York men's soccer team solidified the top seed in the upcoming 2015 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament on Saturday evening, as the Knights picked up a well-deserved 5-2 victory over the Panthers of Albany College of Pharmacy at Aviator Field in Brooklyn, NY. With the win, Berkeley improved its record to 11-5 on the year while clinching the HVIAC Regular Season title. The Panthers dropped to 9-4 with the loss (5-1 in conference play).
Prior to the contest, the Berkeley College Department of Athletics took a few moments to honor four seniors – Joshua Bolanos, Jean Lombard, Victor Dorismond, and Haakon Schjelderup– in a special pregame ceremony. Each student-athlete was presented with a commemorative plaque by Director of Athletics Andy DeStephano, Athletic Coordinator Stephen Spagnoli, and Head Coach Stavros Zomopoulos.
Before fans could even settle into their seats, Albany College of Pharmacy notched a goal, as Zak Giorgi blasted a ball home off of a pass from Jack Hanlon, as the Panthers took an early 1-0 advantage. That score would remain unchanged for over 24 minutes until the Knights finally broke through when sensation Hasan Sezer scored a goal to tie the game at one apiece (at 25:30). Solomon Ahanaonu picked up an assist on the tally.
A little over six minutes later (at 32:10), Sezer struck again (this time off of a pass from Aboubacar Sogoba) as he found the back of the net to put the Knights in front 2-1. Sezer was far from finished, though, as at 42:35 he recorded his third goal of the evening (Ali Dahwa was credited with the helper) to give Berkeley a 3-1 lead.
The Panthers came out strong in the second half, notching a goal at the 48:16 mark when Kyle Jenkins buried a ball home (from Hanlon) to pull Albany College of Pharmacy to within one at 3-2. Later – unassisted scores by Sezer (his fourth of the contest at 74:00) and Sebastian Rousseau (at 80:58) iced the game for the Knights, as Berkeley went on to win the match by three goals. Following the match, Head Coach Stavros Zomopoulos gave his thoughts.
"Everything about this night was perfect," Zomopoulos said. "Not only did we have a chance to honor four hard-working seniors, but we also were able to defeat one of our biggest conference rivals in Albany College of Pharmacy – and even better – we showed character by coming from behind to do it. We are a confident bunch right now, but we understand that there is lots of work to be done. We'll enjoy this night and get back to work Tuesday at Vaughn."
Berkeley dominated the shots category, out-shooting the Panthers 31-11. The Knights had five corner kick opportunities compared to one for Albany College of Pharmacy, and the Panthers were whistled for 15 fouls compared to 10 for the Knights.
The Knights will close out their regular season on Tuesday, as Berkeley takes to the road to battle Vaughn College. Start-time for that match is scheduled for 3:30pm.
