Lady Bears Soccer Defeats Berkeley, Seizes 2nd in HVWAC Standings

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Buoyed by a pair of goals from junior Cynthia Gambino (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's soccer team captured a 3-1 triumph over Berkeley in a Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference game on Wednesday evening at Aviator Field.

St. Joseph's (3-3-2, 2-1 HVWAC) moves into solo second place in the league standings. The Lady Bears travel to Yeshiva (0-7, 0-2 HVWAC) tonight with a victory solidifying the No. 2 seed for the upcoming HVWAC tournament. Berkeley (1-2, 1-2 HVWAC) drops their second straight match.

The Lady Bears opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Pamela Chernyakhovsky (Brooklyn, NY/Leon M. Goldstein) fired a ball from the right side of the box after a short corner that found the back of the net.

The Lady Bears jumped ahead 2-0, 10 minutes before the break when Gambino found the back of the net for the eventual game winner, her first of the season.

Gambino received a pass from Daniella Valencia (Corona, NY/Bayside HS) and tacked on an insurance goal in the 60th minute to start the second-half scoring, her team-leading eighth goal of the season. Valencia also helped on Chernyakhovsky's goal to finish with two assists.

Berkeley responded three minutes later after Anna Folkesson broke past the Lady Bear defense and eluded goalkeeper Nicole Farinella (East Patchogue, NY/Bellport HS) for the Knights only tally of the contest.  Farinella finished with four saves in recording her third victory of the season.

Berkeley pushed forward for the final 20 minutes in an attempt to cut the deficit to one, but the Lady Bears back line held strong and held Berkeley to only two second-half shots. St. Joseph's finished with an 18-9 advantage in shot for the contest.

St. Joseph's has a quick turnaround, heading to Tibbetts Brook Park to take on Yeshiva in their regular season conference finale. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m.