Box Score New York, NY --- The #2 seeded Brooklyn College Men's Soccer team fell short of upsetting top seed Baruch College in the championship final of the 2012 City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC)/Applebee's Men's Soccer Championships held at Randall's Island Field #10 on Saturday night. The Bearcats erased an early 2-0 deficit to pull off their 4-2 come-from-behind victory.

Brooklyn set the tempo early on, as the Bulldogs shocked the Bearcats with two goals in the first three minutes of action. Junior Peterson Petit Frere accounted for both goals to help fuel Brooklyn's offensive explosion.

The game's opening goal came off of a cross from freshman Steve Orellana into the box, which Frere headed into the back of the net in the 2nd minute. Frere would strike again just one minute later with junior Peter Vavalle assisting on the goal off of a free kick.

The Bearcats would not go down lightly, as Baruch got on the scoreboard in the 17th minute, with Akil George blasting a goal and Povilas Bella assisting on the play, to cut the Bearcats' deficit to 2-1. George's goal snapped the Bulldogs' streak of 468 scoreless minutes, as Brooklyn last surrendered a goal on October 13th against John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The score would hold up the rest of the period, as Brooklyn would head into the intermission break up 2-1. Shots were even in the half, as both teams tallied 10 shots; while Baruch held the corner kick advantage 3-2.

The second half featured a much different Baruch team, as the Bearcats controlled the majority of the second stanza outshooting the Bulldogs 19-6. Baruch's aggressive offense led to three second half goals to complete the Bearcats' 4-2 come-from-behind win.

Kyle Keague would find the equalizer in the 54th minute off of a header with Kolaj Nicholas assisting, to make it an even 2-2 ballgame. Continuing to attack the Brooklyn defense, Christopher Peralta's breakaway goal in the 72nd minute with Oren Kozlowski assisting on the play, gave Baruch its first lead of the night. 

The Bearcats would add an insurance goal in the 89th minute, as Kozlowski fed an open Victor Tlepshev to give Baruch a 4-2 advantage.

“We scored two goals very early on; however, I knew it was going to be a long game and we would need to do more to win the match,” said head coach Rawle Hensford. “We had more opportunities to go up by three and even to go ahead 3-2 (after Baruch tied it), but we failed to take those opportunities and made some costly mistakes. I give Baruch a lot of credit; they worked hard and got the results. I wish them well in the NCAA Tournament.”

For the game, the #1 seed Bearcats outshot the Bulldogs 29-16 and also held the corner kick edge 6-3.

Brooklyn keeper junior Stamatis Boundouris played all 90 minutes in goal for the Bulldogs, registering eight saves, while surrendering four goals. His counterpart, Helder Correia also played all 90 minutes finishing with three saves and allowing two goals.

The loss snaps Brooklyn's eight game winning streak, including five straight shutouts, as the Bulldogs drop to 13-5-2 overall on the season. Baruch improves to 11-5-3 overall on the year and receives the CUNYAC's automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA Division III National Tournament.

The Bulldogs' season is not completely over, as Brooklyn will await a possible selection into the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Metro Men's Soccer Tournament. Selections will be made on Monday, November 5th.