Release courtesy of St. Joseph's Athletics
BROOKLYN, N.Y.—Freshman Cansu Usta (Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) added to her NCAA-leading goal tally as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's soccer team cruised past Berkeley College, 10-1, in their Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season finale on Thursday evening at Aviator Sports and Events Center.
The Lady Bears (11-3, 2-2 HVIAC) locked up the No. 3 seed with the win and will face No. 2 King's (N.Y.) in the HVIAC Tournament semifinals on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Randalls Island Field 10.
Usta found the back of the net five times, including the game-winner, and now has 36 goals, leading the NCAA in all divisions, both men and women. Christina Caruso (Queens, N.Y./St. John's Prep) scored twice, for her eighth of the season, and added an assist.
Freshman Destiny Marino (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) scored her first career goal and assisted on two others while Shannon Rom (Breezy Point, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) and Jamilynn McGowan (Staten Island, N.Y./Petrides) each added a goal.
Pamela Chernyakhovsky (Brooklyn, N.Y./Leon M. Goldstein) assisted on two goals and Maria Randazzo(Brooklyn, N.Y./Fontbonne Hall) contributed an assist.
Rom opened the scoring in the eighth minute with her third of the season and Usta put the Lady Bears up 2-0 two minutes later.
Play slowed down and remained scoreless until Usta and completed her sixth hat trick of the season with strikes in the 26th and 38th minutes.
The Lady Bears went ahead 5-0 on a Caruso goal before Berkeley ended the shutout scoring just three minutes before the break on a Briana Ortega goal. But Usta sent the Lady Bears into the lockers up 6-1 with her fourth goal in the 44th minute.
St. Joseph's dominated possession and outshot the Knights (0-5, 0-4 HVIAC) 37-2 for the contest.
The Lady Bears will look to reverse a 5-3 decision to King's on Sunday and return to the HVIAC title game after capturing the title in 2012.
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Release courtesy of Berkeley Athletics
The Berkeley College New York women's soccer team lost a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game Thursday evening, falling to the Bears of St. Joseph's College of Brooklyn by a score of 10-1 in a 70-minute contest at Aviator Field in Brooklyn, NY. With the win, the Bears improved to 11-3 on the 2014 campaign, and 2-2 in conference competition, while the Knights finalized their regular season at 0-5 (0-4 HVIAC).
Following the game, the Berkeley College Department of Athletics - including Director of Athletics Andy DeStephano, Athletic Coordinator Stephen Spagnoli, Head Coach Mike Butler, and the rest of the women's soccer program took a few moments to honor two of the team's seniors - Elizabeth Enriquez and Daisy Velez. Those two student-athletes were presented commemorative plaques honoring their years of service to the program.
On a cold and misty evening at Aviator Field, the Bears dominated the game offensively. Shannon Rorn tallied the first goal of the evening for St. Joseph's College at 7:27, burying a pass from Maria Randazzo to give her team a 1-0 lead. Three consecutive goals by Cansu Usta (at 9:43, unassisted, at 25:13, from Destiny Marino, and at 37:49, from Pam Chernyakhovsky) ballooned the Bears edge to 4-0. A score by Christina Caruso at the 41:14 mark of the period (from Chernyakhovsky) gave St. Joseph's College a commanding 5-0 lead.
The Knights did get on the board, though, when Briana Ortega broke free and scored an unassisted goal, slipping a ball past Bears' netminder Nicole Farinella at 41:40 of the opening session to bring the Knights to within 5-1. St. Joseph's' Usta would net her fourth goal of the game a little less than two minutes later to give the Bears a 6-1 advantage - a lead they would hold going into the half.
In the second half, the Bears would tack on four more goals to account for the 10-1 final score. St. Joseph's College out-shot the Knights by a count of 37-2 for the evening, while also holding a 7-1 edge in corner kicks for the night.
Berkeley College netminder Fredrica Berg collected eight saves in a losing effort.
St. Joseph's College will now look ahead to Sunday afternoon, as the Bears will enter the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed and play No. 2 seeded King's College at Randall's Island. That match is scheduled for 4:00pm. As for Berkeley College, the Knights' 2014 season has now finalized, and the team will look to improve during the offseason before coming back to put forth a strong run during the 2015 campaign.
