Men And Women’s Cross Country Meet At NJIT Invitational
By Owen Russell
The men’s cross country team ran their third meet of the season this past Saturday, Oct. 8, at the New Jersey Institute of Technology Invitational.
The Bulldogs were unable to field a full team for the second time this season. Kevin McCarthy finished first for Brooklyn with a time of 35:02. Naheen Khan and Alex Wang came in second and third for the Bulldogs, respectively. Seton Hall, NJIT, Molloy, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Joseph’s (Brooklyn) rounded out the top five teams. An interesting tidbit: James Hughes, my high school teammate, finished 27th overall for St. Thomas Aquinas College.
The women’s cross country team also competed at the NJIT invitational. Brooklyn finished 25th out of 25 teams this past Saturday. Fatima Aftab placed first for the Bulldogs with a time of 29:23 for 5K. Lori Tsang and Nana Kiziriya placed second and third for Brooklyn. Seton Hall, St. Thomas Aquinas, Felician, NJIT, and Molloy earned the race’s top five spots.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will be in action again on Oct. 15 at Sunken Meadow St. Park for the St. Joseph’s College (Long Island) Invitational.
Men’s Soccer Keeps Searching For Win
By Owen Russell
The men’s soccer team has yet to secure their first win of the season, even after kicking off CUNYAC play.
The Bulldogs visited Hunter College on Saturday, Oct. 1, for their first loss of the week. Brooklyn played a strong defensive effort, only allowing one goal. Their sole goal of the match came during the 17th minute, after that, the Bulldogs played a clean sheet. BC was unable to capitalize on any of their nine shots. Ultimately, the game ended 1-0 in favor of the Hunter Hawks.
In their second game of the week, the Bulldogs fell to the Baruch Bearcats. This time Brooklyn played clean the entire first half. When the second half rolled around, both teams were even, 0-0. Despite playing a strong defensive first half, the Bulldogs couldn’t hold steady in the second half. Brooklyn allowed three unanswered goals before the final whistle. Brooklyn suffered their 8th shutout of the season.
Brooklyn’s third and final loss came against CCNY on Saturday, Oct. 8. This time around, Brooklyn struck first. Junior Jordi Hernandez found the back of the net in the 43rd minute, giving Brooklyn a 1-0 lead heading into halftime. For the first time in multiple weeks, Brooklyn held a lead over an opponent. Even though things seemed to be going swimmingly for the Bulldogs, it was all for naught. The CCNY Beavers scored two straight goals in the second half, and Brooklyn could not catch back up.
12 games into the season, the Bulldogs boast an 0-11-1 record with a winless record in CUNYAC play. Brooklyn has three matches left until the playoffs. Their next opportunity to secure a victory comes on Oct. 12 against York College.
Women’s Soccer Earns First Season Win
By Owen Russell
Women’s Soccer has done it! After opening their season with a 10 game losing streak the Bulldogs have broken into the win column for the first time since 2021. Brooklyn’s first win came after a tough week in which the team suffered two shutout losses.
On Tuesday, Oct. 4, Brooklyn lost on the road to Bard College. Bard shot early and often against the Bulldogs. In only the first half, Bard fired off 25 shots compared to Brooklyn’s zero. Despite the discrepancy, neither team was able to capitalize in the first half. The second half saw much of the same from both teams. Bard shot a crazy volume, nearly matching their first-half mark, totaling 49 shots for the game. Brooklyn was unable to shoot once in the second half and for the whole game. Bard scored on one of their nearly 50 goals and ended up winning the contest.
Brooklyn hoped for redemption on Friday, Oct. 7, against St. Joseph’s (Long Island). The Bulldogs fell back early. St. Joseph scored three times in the first 20 minutes, and from there, the outcome was all but sealed. Brooklyn failed to gain any ground on the Golden Eagles, allowing two extra goals in the second half. In the end, Brooklyn suffered a 5-0 loss.
Brooklyn secured their much-needed victory on Oct. 9 against Medgar-Evers in a lopsided affair. The Bulldogs have been on the wrong side of shutouts all season, but against the Cougars things turned around. Brooklyn scored seven unanswered goals, en route to a blowout which finally favored the Bulldogs. Senior Rachel Gomez opened up the scoring with the match’s first two goals. From there, teammate Dionsia Payamps tacked on two more to give Brooklyn a 4-0 lead. In the 25th minute, Priscilla Vixama knocked down a goal of her own, and gave Brooklyn a 5-0 lead heading into halftime. In the second half, despite their comfortable lead, Brooklyn added two more goals; cementing their 7-0 victory. The win over Medgar-Evers marks the Bulldogs’ first since Oct. 19, 2021.
The Bulldogs hold a 1-10 record as the season winds down towards the playoffs. Hopefully Saturday’s victory can spark a hot streak for the Bulldogs heading into post-season play.
Women’s Tennis Scores First Win Of Season
By Owen Russell
The women’s tennis team played three matches this past week, winning one and losing two.
The tennis team’s first match of the week came against Hunter College in a 9-0 defeat. Brooklyn’s highest-scoring effort came from the #1 doubles duo of Monica Prado Capon and Veronika Tsiko. Capon and Tsiko scored 2 points in their loss to Hunter. All but one of the singles competitions ended in a shutout.
The second match of the week came against Lehman College. After a frustrating defeat at the hands of Hunter, Brooklyn rallied and decimated the Lightning from Lehman. Brooklyn won all but one of their singles competitions. Veronika Tsiko won the Singles #2 match, helping Brooklyn secure their first overall victory of the season. Brooklyn ended the match with a 7-2 advantage.
Brooklyn was unable to seize the momentum heading into their Saturday, Oct. 8 confrontation with Kean University. The Bulldogs suffered a 7-2 defeat but were able to steal a doubles and singles victory. Veronika Tsiko won her second singles match of the week and helped Brooklyn secure an 8-5 victory in a doubles competition.
Even after earning their first win of the season, Brooklyn still has plenty of ground to make up heading towards the CUNYAC tournament. Their next match comes against John Jay College on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
Women’s Volleyball Wins Latest CUNYAC Trimatch
By Michela Arlia
BC women’s volleyball ended a non-conference trimatch with a victorious sweep against Mount St. Mary before falling to trimatch host Montclair State.
In game one of the day against Mount St. Mary, BC accomplished three straight scores capped by a kill after trailing 23-19 in the third set. Ending the game with a final score of 3-0, the team moved on to game two with confidence but was quickly defeated.
Against host Montclair State, the Bulldogs started the match by overcoming back-to-back deficits in the first two sets, but were swept by the opposing team as they pulled through with an eight score rally in the third set. The final score for match two was 3-0 in Red Hawks’ favor.
Leading scorers for the day were sophomore and outside hitter Aleah Rafat, who landed 18 kills and 13 digs, followed by fellow outside hitter Ashley Fung, a junior with 13 kills and 26 digs. Freshman setter Amra Mulic also led with 29 assists.
BC hosted the CUNYAC conference opening tri-match on Oct. 4, with their scores split again between the two matches against York and Hunter College. The Bulldogs swept York in match one, jumping with a 10-1 lead in the first set.
Heading into match two against Hunter College, BC was denied any chance of a lead when the visiting team led 22-9 in the opening set before the Bulldogs came back with five straight scores. Continuing to hold on for the remainder of the match with a 24-23 lead in the third set, BC ultimately fell as Hunter closed out with three straight scores.
Outside hitter Rafat led once again with nine kills and four digs, with other scoring highlights coming from senior setter Katia Mercado, serving 16 assists and eight service aces, and sophomore outside hitter Tessa Winkleman putting away a team high of nine kills and seven digs.
On Saturday Oct. 8, BC traveled to Baruch for another conference trimatch, taking on Lehman College and host Baruch with much success on a clean sweep.
Picking up two conference wins, the Bulldogs won 3-0 in both matches. In the first match against Lehman, the team led 13-3 in the opening set and followed through in the second with 10-0, finishing off with an 8-2 run to close out.
The Bulldogs carried their win against Hunter later on in the second match of the day, where they closed out the match with a 5-1 rally, despite a nail-biting trail behind at 11-7 in the second set.
Senior defensive specialist Alanis Guinada led the team’s scoring with a match-high nine digs, and Rafat once again took charge with nine kills for the day.
The Bulldogs are set for another CUNYAC trimatch on Thursday, Oct. 13, at Medgar Evers College.