The Manhattanville men's soccer team took the field on Saturday in search of a 4-0 start and the found it by toppling the Berkeley (N.Y.) Knights by the score of 3-1 at GoValiants.com Field.
Manhattanville got off to a good start on a pair of shots by junior midfielder Moshee Kelyana (Scarborough, Ontario/Brebeuf College) and three corner kicks from senior Adam Kent (London, England/Sutton Grammar) but were unable to convert. The best opportunity of the first half came when freshman Yani Quinteros (Shirley, N.Y./William Floyd) started a barrage of shots against the Knights. After the rebound from Quinteros' shot senior Sebastian Siring (Gothenburg, Sweden/Katrinelundsgymnasiet) hit one off the post the rebound was again picked up by the Valiants as Kent sent a shot wide.
The two teams entered the halftime break scoreless after a first half that was dominated in shots by Manhattanville, 9-1. Corners in the first half were also in favor of the Valiants at a 4-0 margin. 2:29 into the second half senior Daniel Carlryd (Gothenburg, Sweden/LM Engstrom) took the ball into the box from the right flank pulling the netminder Camilo Montes from the cage, Carlryd chipped a pass to the center of the box and Eros Olazabal (Milton, Ontario/Bishop Reding) put it to the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
At the 60:37 mark of the contest Berkeley tied it at one when a costly foul on the Valiants gave the Knights a free kick opportunity. Off the cross from about 22 yards out Nehikhare Eduwu found the foot of Daisei Hiwaki who slipped it past Valiant goalkeeper Jason Torres (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) to even the game.
After a few more missed opportunities to take the lead, including an Eros header that was stopped by a leaping Montes, the Valiants were able to break the deadlock when Eros took a pass from Carlryd and put it to the back of the net for the 2-1 lead. After his goal Eros had two more opportunities including a situation where the Knight defense needed to bail their keeper out.
Senior Keston George (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago/Victory Christian Academy) put the game to bed with a highlight reel goal by spinning around a defender and chipping it over the keeper after a great crossing pass by sophomore Kyle Cassidy (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel). For George, it was his fourth goal of the season and second of the Valiant Classic. The remaining six minutes and change ticked off the clock and Manhattanville earned their fourth win of the season.
The Valiants with a triumphant start to their season thus far continue their opening six-game homestand on Wednesday afternoon as the Fighting Blue Jays of NYU-Poly visit Purchase for a match set for 4:00 p.m. The Knights return home to take on St. Joseph's College of Brooklyn on Wednesday as well with a game time of 7:00 p.m.