Berea, KY- The men's soccer team started the first game of a three-game USA South home stand this evening. The first game came against the visiting William Peace University Pacers.
After threatening a couple of times on the offensive end, the Mountaineers started the scoring off at the 9:24 mark. Issac Mendoza sent a perfect pass through the defenders to Pedro Herrera and Herrera snuck the ball past the opposing keeper to give Berea a 1-0 lead. An attacking Pacers offense was kept out of the net because of strong play from the defensive backs and goalkeeper Noah DeHart as the Mountaineers went into halftime leading 1-0.
Much like the first half, Berea's defense along with great saves from DeHart kept the lead in favor of the Mountaineers. In the 56th minute, Berea gave themselves a little bit of a cushion as Dorian Del Toro sent a booming free kick into the right side of the goal to give the Blue Crew a 2-0 advantage. A beaming shot in the 61st minute by the Pacers which would have cut Berea's lead in half was knocked off its path on a beautiful diving save by DeHart to preserve the lead. The advantage the Mountaineers had was cut in half though on a penalty kick in the 69th minute. The lead Berea held disappeared at the 82:33 mark when William Peace kicked the tying goal into the back of the net. A couple minutes later, the Pacers took their first lead of the game as a goal in the upper left corner put the Mountaineers behind 3-2. Berea was unable to tie the game to extend the match to extra time, losing a heartbreaker to the visitors 3-2.
The home Mountaineers totaled seven shots in the game, with four shots from Herrera, two from Ubai Abulteaf and a shot from Del Toro. DeHart put a full 90 minutes in the net, finishing with seven saves on ten shots on goal.
The next game in the home stand comes on Saturday as they welcome a USA South East division opponent to the Berea College Sports Complex. N.C. Wesleyan College visits for a 4:00 kickoff as part of a doubleheader with the women's soccer team. Information on live video and live statistics can be found at the official site for Berea College Athletics, www.bereaathletics.com.