MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - The Berry College men's soccer team came out on top 3-1 in their home opener against the Berea College Mountaineers Friday night at Bob Pearson Field.
The Vikings improve to 3-1 this season, while the Mountaineers fall to 2-2-1.
The contest was evenly matched for most of the night, but the Vikings were able to capitalize on the scoring opportunities the Mountaineers could not. Their first scoring chance came in the third minute on a corner kick. A perfectly placed ball deflected right to
Joey Captain, who hammered home his second goal of the season to make it 1-0 Berry.
The Vikings kept the pressure on for the next 20 minutes, and eventually struck again at 23:39. Thanks to another corner kick,
Bryce Epstein kicked the ball into the box and
Elijah Van Heijden made it 2-0 with a perfect shot into the net. Despite a few scoring chances from Berea, Berry was able to take that two-goal lead into halftime.
The Mountaineers turned up the intensity in the second half. At 56:15, that intensity paid off as a smart pass from Ombeni Shandera allowed Daniel Garcia to get free and get a shot through
Cooper Cherry to cut the deficit in half. The visitors appeared to have all the momentum, but Captain stopped it just over a minute later. Thanks to a great pass from
Daniel Osho, Captain raced by the defense and found the back of the net for a second time, making it 3-1 Vikings. That ended up being the final score with Berry never letting the Mountaineers strike back.
Berea outshot Berry 16-14 but the Vikings finished with seven shots on goal compared to six for their opponent. Both teams finished with six corner kicks. Captain led the way for the Vikings with two goals and two shots on goal. Van Heijden scored the other Berry goal, while Epstein and Osho each had an assist. Cherry got the win in net by making five saves and allowing one goal.
The Vikings travel to Atlanta for their next game on Sunday, September 13 against Montclair State University. The game will be played at Oglethorpe University at 2 p.m.
