The Berkeley College New Jersey men's soccer team greatly improved its chances of receiving a bid to participate in the 2016 USCAA Men's Soccer National Championship Tournament, as the Knights today defeated the Nittany Lions of Penn State Brandywine by a score of 3-0 in a match played at Maple Zone in Aston, PA. With the victory, the Knights finalized the regular season portion of the 2016 campaign at 10-6, while Penn State Brandywine had its 12-match winning streak snapped, as they dropped to 13-2.
Berkeley College broke through for the first goal of the match late in the opening session when the Nittany Lions committed a hard foul on the Knights' Calvin Carbajal. Carbajal was then awarded a penalty kick, and he took advantage by blasting it past Penn State Brandywine goalkeeper Will Scott-Norris at the 42:43 mark to give his squad a 1-0 advantage.
In the second session, the Knights added a pair of insurance goals – one by Matthew Neto (from Luiz Martins at 63:49) and another by Carbajal to account for the 3-0 final score. Following the victory, Knights Head Coach Bruno Ferreira praised the effort of his student-athletes.
"This was a terrific all-around group effort today by these guys, and I'm very proud of the way they performed," Ferreira said. "In what was our most important match of the year, we played extremely well in all facets of the game of soccer. Penn State Brandywine had been playing so well – winners of 12 consecutive matches, and we were able to come here today and knock them off. It was a collective job well done."
The Knights dominated the match offensively, blasting 23 shots on the afternoon compared to just three for their opponent. Berkeley College had seven corner kicks compared to one for Penn State Brandywine, and Knights netminder Robert Parker only had to make one save to record a shutout thanks to a stellar defensive effort for Berkeley.
The Knights will now await word of a possible big to the 2016 USCAA Men's Soccer National Championship Tournament. The selection show will take place on Tuesday, November 1 at 5:00pm. Keep it posted to www.berkeleycollegeknights.com and www.theuscaa.com for the latest updates and information on the Knights' tournament prospects.
