BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Though Cal Lutheran led 1-0 after the first period, a big second half for the Berry Vikings closed the Kingsmen's Alabama trip with a 5-2 loss. Sophomore Joey Arnold and freshman Adrian Graciano tallied the first goals of the season for the purple and gold, and keepers Cade Leatherman and Antonio Welch combined for eight saves in Sunday's contest.
Arnold opened up the second game of the Birmingham-Southern College Classic with a goal in just the third minute of the contest. Nick Bryant set up the strike for Arnold who dribbled a few yards up the left side before effortlessly shooting past a stunned goalkeeper to put the Kingsmen up 1-0.
Defensively, Weatherman made three impressive saves in the box to help maintain the lead for the remainder of the half. His first came in the tenth minute to deflect a point-blank shot taken by Jake Williamson wide of the right post. He followed with a save in the 26th against Steven Moore after flaring tempers over a yellow card issued to Arnold opened up a scoring opportunity for the Vikings.
His final save came at the close of the first, when Berry threatened to equalize in the 42nd, getting two shots off in a flurry in box. Weatherman managed to barely deflect the first shot by Bradley Sisk, but the ball made it back to the Viking's feet who managed to get a second shot off that was saved by a block from Alex Cortez to close the half.
Welch took over in goal for the Kingsmen in the second, and opened the half with two saves within the first four minutes.
Arnold responded with the Kingsmen's first shot on goal in the fresh half with a shot toward the right post, but found its way to the keeper who set up the Vikings for the counter attack and equalizing goal by Daniel Ray in the 54th minute.
With the momentum in Berry's favor, the Vikings scored three more in a row by Moore, Williamson and Zachary Ernst to go up 4-1 over the Kingsmen.
However, with 20 minutes to play, Cal Lutheran continued to put up a fight. In the 79th minute, Alon Arnaldes perfectly played a ball to the feet of Graciano who managed to outrun his defender and chip the ball over the keeper to make it a 4-2 match.
Pulling within two, Cal Lutheran scrambled to find the back of the net in the final ten minutes but had their efforts thwarted by another Viking goal from Austin Casbarro that bounced off the left post and into the netting.
Though the Kingsmen responded with one last attempt in the 89th minute on a free kick taken by Igor Lumbrano just outside the box, the early punches by Berry proved too much to overcome.
Overall, Berry outshot Cal Lutheran 21 to 9, with 14 shots on goal compared to the Kingsmen's three. Six yellow cards were also issued in Sunday's contest, four to Cal Lutheran: Arnold (23'), Jake Rast (28'), Justin Magana (81') and Welch (89').
The Kingsmen return to William Rolland Stadium this Wednesday, September 5, for their home and conference opener. They look to secure their first win of the season against the Occidental Tigers at 7 p.m. PST.
Box Score: BC 5, CLU 2
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Release by Christy Effendie, Assistant Sports Information Director
