By Matthew D. Stokes

BerryVikings.com Staff Writer

MAHWAH, N.J. – Opening its 2012 season 800-plus miles away from its home turf, Berry (1-0) managed just enough offense to defeat Ramapo (0-1) 1-0 in a Friday afternoon matchup.

Sophomore Zak Wallingford, Berry's leading scorer in 2011, found the back of the net for the game's lone goal at 74:03.

"It was a nice pass by David Shaw," said Berry head coach Richard Vardy. "Zak was faster than the defender and beat the goalkeeper to the ball. Nice goal."

Vardy said this game could be a preview of what will happen as the season progresses. 

"If it was last year, we might have lost this game 1-0, but this year we won it," Vardy said. "Sometimes the harder you work, you get that little bit of luck. We did work hard. There were times we played well, and there were times when they played well. I think we're a good team this year. We've got the chemistry, and we've got quite good depth to the team. I think that there's a strong belief that whoever's on the field's going to do a good job this year."

This game also marked freshman goalkeeper Logan Hill's collegiate debut. He finished with five saves. 

"He had a couple of nice saves, including one point-blank save when he didn't have much time to react," Vardy said.

Brian Petrunik took the loss for Ramapo, totaling four saves on the day. 

Overall Ramapo outshot Berry by a 12-7 margin. Dave Przybylo fired off five shots for Ramapo, including two on goal.

Berry will conclude its trip to the Northeast with a game tomorrow against Rowan at 1 p.m.

-BerryVikings.com-