Photo by Giancarlo Sepulveda
The Ramapo College men’s soccer team hosted the Berkley College Knights on Monday and took home the victory by a score of 2-0.
The Roadrunners (3-3-1) came into this game after dropping three straight contests, while Berkley (1-5) had also lost three consecutive games.
Ryan Campbell, freshman forward, provided the game-winning offense for the game, as his two first-half goals stood as the only goals.
“The first goal was mostly given to me, as Lucas [Tasci] played a great ball over the top, and the goalie and defender had a miscommunication and the ball fell to my feet, and I was able to stay composed,” Campbell said.
After a couple of chances for Ramapo, Campbell was able to finish after a cross from Tasci, junior midfielder, where Berkley goalkeeper Nicholas Araujo and defender Joao Parrerias had a miscommunication with 17:24 remaining in the first half.
“[Campbell] capitalized on a misplay, but he was smart about it and calmly put it in to give us the lead,” said 12-year head coach DJ Pinton.
Just 57 seconds later, Campbell was able to put another one away and give Ramapo a 2-0 advantage. Campbell received a beautiful pass from freshman forward Eddie Franzoni and was able to one-time it in.
“It was off a throw in, and Eddie made a nice quick read. All in all he played a nice ball,” Campbell said.
In the second half, Ramapo controlled most of the action and had numerous opportunities, but Araujo was able to make a handful of nice saves to keep the game from getting out of hand. Berkley had a couple opportunities in the middle of the second half, but the Roadrunners' defense and goalie play from junior Matthew Hernandez was too strong.
“With three games this week we gave some guys a try on defense. Eric Christiansen stepped in and played a good roll and of course Bayley Young, one of the captains, was rock solid,” said Pinton of his team’s defense.
Ramapo had many chances in the final minutes, with multiple odd man rushes, but were unable to extend the lead after multiple blocks from the Knights defenders and saves from Araujo.
Ramapo finished the contest with 25 shots, 11 of which were on net. Berkley tallied 14 shots, but only seven on goal. Araujo saved nine out of 11 shots for Berkley, while Hernandez had a shutout saving all seven potential shots on net by the Knights.
The Roadrunners hope to build from this win as they return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 23, when Old Westbury travels to Mahwah.
rrinsky@ramapo.edu
