Medford, MA- The 2018 men's soccer season kicked off this afternoon, but the team was unable to get the win after a hard fought battle with Berkeley College of New York (1-0), losing 2-0.
The Falcons (0-1) defense held off the Knights attack until the 17th minute when Marcos Leon (Bronx, NY) broke free down the left side of the field and put a cross pass to Jean-Gardy Derineau (Valley Stream, NY) who was free in front of the net and was able to put it in the back of the net for the visitors. The remainder of the half the two teams exchanged possessions, but neither team was able to capitalize on their opportunities as they headed to halftime 1-0.
Coming out of the half, the Falcons immediately put the pressure of the Knights goalie, Dario Cruz Sepulveda (Guadalajara, Mexico), as junior Steven Jagba put a free kick on goal and then a minute late earned a penalty kick with a scrum in front of the net. But Falcons freshman Vishal Vaswani (Kowloon, Hong Kong), was unable to capitalize as his kick sailed left of the net, keeping the score notched at 1-0 in favor of the Knights. Falcons goalie, senior Eliseu DePina (Dorchester, MA) made some key saves over the next 20 minutes, keeping the Falcons hopes alive, as he made five of his 11 saves on the day in that span. It was at the 70th minute that Derineau earned his second goal of the day. Jovani Guzman (Queens, NY) of the Knights, put a shot on goal, but DePina made a terrific save, punching it away to his right, however it landed at the feet of Derineau who finished the pursuit, making it 2-0.
The Falcons best chance offensively came in the last three minutes when freshman Leonardo Mildor (Pompano Beach, FL) got free at the top of the box but his power shot sailed just high of the cross bar.
The squad will look to bounce back and get in the win column as they take on Me-Presque-Isle at Hormel Stadium, next Saturday at 1pm.