Box Score Brooklyn, NY---
The #1 seeded Brooklyn College Women's Soccer Team repeated as CUNYAC Champs on Saturday, knocking off #2 Staten Island in the 2014 CUNYAC/Brine Women's Soccer Final, 1-0. The Bulldogs and Championships MVP Bergelie Louis, who scored the contest's only goal, will advance to the NCAA Division III Championships for the second consecutive season. The National Tournament will begin next weekend, with the announcement of the field to come on Monday, November 10th.
Louis, the team's only senior, was named Most Valuable Player after converting the game-winner. In her two years with the team after transferring to BC, she is a perfect 2-0, as is the team, in the CUNYAC Finals."These games are never easy," said Brooklyn Head Coach Patrick Horne. "Credit to Staten Island. In the first half, they really had us going but we told [the team] that they worked hard all season and to not let it go to waste."The teams played mostly back and forth for the first half. The Dolphins had their first opportunity in the 7th minute of play as Danielle Smith took the ball down the sideline and knocked the ball towards the goalie but it would be saved by Rebecca Harmata. Brooklyn's Bergelie Louis had a few opportunities with space to break away and make a play but was stopped before actually taking a shot.
A strong scoring opportunity for Brooklyn on a cross by Jordan Kerwin to Louis resulted in a weak shot that went wide. CSI's Kristy Colangelo took a shot in 36th minute that was just narrowly saved by Harmata to keep the game scoreless. The last true scoring opportunity came in the 40th minute when Victoria Donegan made a great save on an open shot by Isabelle Lalami to keep the game at 0-0 at halftime.
Just 1:30 into the second half, the scoreless streak ended. Lalami created some space down the sideline and crossed the ball to Louis who appeared briefly to be stopped before shooting the ball into the far side of the net passed Donegan and give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
In the 54th minute, Louis had a wide open opportunity on a through ball but was unable to convert as Donegan made the tough save. Another through ball by Lalami to Louis in the 61st minute forced another save by Donegan. Lalami had a golden opportunity wide open in the 65th minute flew over the crossbar. Less than a minute later, Kerwin put one on goal for Brooklyn on a bouncer that was scooped up by Donegan.
A breakaway by Lalami left her with a lot of space but another nice save by Donegan kept the game at 1-0 in the 76th minute. The 80th minute saw an excellent scoring opportunity to score for Kerwin who knocked the ball off the crossbar. CSI had an opportunity off a throw in as Deanna Kvetkoff took a deep shot that was saved by Harmata to preserve the shutout in the 84th minute that all but sealed the victory for Brooklyn.
Minutes later, the repeat became official as Brooklyn took home their second title in just three years as a program. Throughout the entire season, Brooklyn did not give up a goal to a CUNYAC opponent with a defense that is led by standout Jasmine Fermin.
"It's been a crazy year," said Louis. "As the only senior it was kind of like a step up in my last year to lead these ladies to another championship."
The Bulldogs will await Monday's announcement of where their NCAA Tournament matchup will take them. Brooklyn lost to John Hopkins in last year's first round, however with many returnees and a much tougher non-conference schedule, the squad will look to make some noise this year.
"We've been there before, and we know the competition, so we understand that we all need to step up our games," said Shani Nakhid-Shuster, a junior and one of the original members of the team that is only been in existence for three year's. "We are glad for the opportunity and will give nothing short of our best effort."
Check back with brooklyncollegeathletics.com for updates during the week.
