Release courtesy of CNR Athletics
ALBANY, NY - Despite Mother Nature's dose of cold rain and heavy wind and a determined upset bid by Berkeley College, the College of New Rochelle Mens Soccer team erupted for five second half goals to defeat the Knights 6-0 in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Semi-finals Saturday night.
The win moves CNR to the championship game tomorrow at 3:00pm against the 3rd seeded SUNY-ESF. SUNY-ESF defeated Albany Pharmacy College 5-3 in the other semi-final.
The Blue Angels wasted little time going up on the defending league champions, when freshmen Jovanni Garcia (Garden Grove, CA) scored off a pass from freshmen Gabriel Lopez (Madrid, Spain) just 1:19 into the contest. But, Berkeley would increase the pressure and Mother Nature increased the wind and rain that the CNR team had to go into for the next 43 minutes. The Knights would have their best chance of the game in the 7th minute when they had a one on one inside the box, but put the shot over the cross bar.
CNR would nearly go up by two, when a cross found the head of sophomore Nicorey Warren (Brooklyn, NY). The forward's header hit the post. It would be the first of three posts by CNR attackers in the half. But, the score remained 1-0 at the half - the same as the regular season contest.
And just like the regular season contest, CNR scored quickly in the 2nd half and exploded for several goals in a short span to deflate the Knights. Garcia connected again off a pass from Warren in the 48th minute to push the lead to 2-0. Warren would get into the scoring column moments later off a cross from freshmen Angel Gonzalez (Fort Lauderdale, FL).
Gonzalez and Lopez, and freshmen Cesar Rodriguez (Santa Ana, CA) would add tallies in the 68th, 69th, and 81st minutes to solidfy the win.
New Rochelle, which is in its inaugural mens soccer season, also advances to their first-ever championship. The team enters the final on a seven game shutout streak. Freshmen Cristian Perez Del Castillo (Harrison, NY) made one save on the night to earn his 9th clean sheet of the season. The last time they gave up a goal was 680 minutes ago - ironically, against tomorrow's opponent SUNY ESF.
Tomorrow's game will be streamed live at http://hviac.net/sports/msoc/championship/2016/video
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Release courtesy of Berkeley College Athletics
After a strong run in the month of October, the Berkeley College New York men's soccer team saw its bid for consecutive Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference crowns come to an end on Saturday evening, as the No. 4 seeded Knights were defeated by the No. 1 seeded Blue Angels of the College of New Rochelle by a score of 6-0 in a match played at the ACPHS Turf Athletic Field in Albany, NY.
Berkeley College's loss dropped the Knights to 5-10-1 on the season, while the Blue Angels improved to a mark of 15-2 on the year. New Rochelle will now advance to Sunday's championship match against No. 3 seeded SUNY-ESF. Start-time for that match is scheduled for 3:00pm.
New Rochelle struck first in this contest, as Jovanni Garcia recorded a goal off a beautiful lead pass from Gabriel Lopez just 1:19 into the match. The Knights increased the pressure after that opening goal, with the rain and wind picking up as well, but neither squad was able to break through for another goal for the remainder of the session, as the Blue Angels took the 1-0 lead into the break at halftime.
In a sequence that mirrored the way the regular season contest between the two played out, New Rochelle tallied a girl early in the second half before peppering home a slew of additional goals to put the match way. Garcia connected again off a pass from Warren in the 48th minute to push the lead to 2-0. Warren would tally a goal of his own moments later, capitalizing on a gorgeous cross pass from Angel Gonzalez to push the Blue Angels' edge to 3-0.
Gonzalez and Lopez, and Cesar Rodriguez would add tallies in the 68th, 69th, and 81st minutes, respectively, as New Rochelle ran away with a semifinal round victory.
New Rochelle held a 22-6 edge in the shots department for the match, while also getting eight corner kick opportunities compared to zero for Berkeley College. The Blue Angels committed 13 fouls on the evening, compared to seven for the Knights.
Berkeley College will play one more match this season, and that contest will be Wednesday evening against the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 7:00pm.
