By Matthew D. Stokes

BerryVikings.com Staff Writer

ROME, Ga. – For the fourth time in five games this young season, Berry (5-0) blanked the opposition as it prevailed 1-0 in a double-overtime affair against Covenant (1-4) on late Thursday afternoon at Ford Field.

A sophomore-to-sophomore connection sealed the victory for Berry as Zak Wallingford dished out the ball to Christian Fulbright for the decisive goal at 101:24.

"We had a lot of half-breakaways, half-chances that were very similar, but they didn't quite work out. But that one was nice," said Berry head coach Richard Vardy following the team's win. "Zak did a nice turn, made a great run and then a good pass to Christian. I thought Christian had lost his chance to score, but he kept his composure, had a good touch and then had a really nice, low shot to win the game."

Prior to that moment in the second overtime, Covenant had successfully done what it seems to always do against Berry: make it a hard game. 

"It's a frustrating team to play against because they have a very direct style of play," Vardy said. "To their credit, they played well and had a game plan that was working for them in terms of frustrating us. For the past 35 years that we've played them, it's a hard game every year."

Berry nearly tripled Covenant in the shots department, as the team finished with 25 compared to the latter team's nine. Sophomore David Shaw paced Berry with five shots while Covenant's Tyler Morrison and Chris Pifer had two apiece.

Freshman goalkeeper Logan Hill kept his flawless record intact for Berry, making five saves in his fourth shutout. Covenant's Shuler Polk took the loss after stopping 11 shots.

The next game for Berry will be against Emory on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Ford Field. This matchup will mark the end of Berry's four-game homestand.

-BerryVikings.com-