By: Manuel Polanco
As the fall semester begins and classes are back in session, so too are Brooklyn College’s (BC) fall sports.
With the Men’s soccer team gaining a new head coach, Nathan Bell, a fiery quote by the women’s volleyball coach, and the women’s soccer team’s dominant start, let’s kick off this week’s recaps with Women’s volleyball.
Women’s Volleyball
“The goal is always one, to win the conference and represent CUNYAC at the NCAA. Not an easy task, but we have a really talented group of young players and solid upperclassmen leadership,” replied longtime women’s volleyball coach Losif Agrest when asked what his goals are for his team this upcoming semester.
This fighting spirit and mentality culminated in the Women’s volleyball team winning their home opener 3-2 against SUNY Maritime on Sept. 2. In a game that went into five sets, the Women’s resilience helped them come away with a win.
Although they started their next game slow, losing the first set 25-10, BC won the second set 25-18 and kept it close in the remaining sets. As the fifth set started, BC dug in and edged out Maritime, winning the fifth set 15-13.
The resilience BC showed is the energy Coach Agrest talked about, and helped them win their first game in a big way.
Key players of this game were Senior Amra Mulic, who had 12 assists, two aces, and 17 digs. Senior Ruti Joshi ended the night with 22 digs, three aces, seven assists, and a great defensive game. Freshman Ella Snobar had eight kills, one ace, and 12 digs. Sophomore Danielle Fuxman had five kills, six digs, and two blocks.
BC also faced off against the United States Merchant Marine Academy Mariners (USMMA) on Thursday, Sept. 4.
BC vs USMMA didn’t go the Bulldogs’ way as they lost this game 3-0. BC lost each of their three sets via scores of 13-25, 20-25, and 19-25. Freshman and first-year player Olive Carroll had six kills in this game, Freshman Saule Okeke-Ziburkus had five kills and one block, Fuxman had three kills this game, and Snobar had two kills and two blocks. BC hopes to bounce back on Tuesday, Sept. 9, when they face off against Farmingdale State.
Women’s Soccer
After losing their first game of the season 4-2 against Maritime College, the BC Women’s soccer team looked to start their home opener with a bang against their opponent, the Saint Elizabeth University Eagles. BC would win their home opener in front of the Brooklyn College crowd and even their record at 1-1.
Sophomore Midfielder Audrey Jane Young would get the scoring started as she scored a goal with an assist from Sophomore teammate Chelsea Gonzalez. Young ended her night with one goal, four shots, two Shots on Goal (SOG), and one assist. Junior forward Imani Dickens would join the party as she scored a goal of her own at 36 minutes. Dickens’ stats for the game were three shots, two SOG, and one goal.
BC continued their winning ways, as they beat the University of Valley Forge Patriots on Saturday, Sept. 6.
Sophomore Midfielder Julissa Chino would score the only goal of this game as BC won 1-0 against Valley Forge. This close but defensive game was scoreless in the first half, and Chino would break the ice with a goal of her own in the second half.
Sophomore goalkeeper April Hartje played all 90 minutes and had two saves under her belt.
The women’s soccer team raised its record to 2-1 and will return home on Wednesday, Sept.10, to play Manhattanville.
Men’s soccer
The Men’s soccer team opened its season on the road against Maritime, hoping to start this new season with a win and help their new coach, Nathan Hall, earn his first coaching win as a Brooklyn College coach. However, the team would lose the first game 4-1 and were held scoreless until the second half, when Freshman player Andrew Gavrilov scored his first goal of the season.
Trying to bounce back from their previous loss, BC was on the road again and faced off against Sarah Lawrence College. BC’s losing streak would stretch to two games as they lost their second game 4-1.
BC would get the scoring started in the first quarter as Gavrilov would score his second goal of the season with an assist by Senior Nikala Metreveli. Gavrilov was honored with the CUNYAC Rookie of the Week. This would be the only goal BC would make as Sarah Lawrence scored three goals in the first quarter.
Gavrilov would end his day with five shots, three SOG, and one goal. Metreveli had three shots, one SOG, and one assist. Junior Adan Khodorkovsky had four shots, and Junior Seif Mokhtar ended his day with three shots and two SOGs.
Back home, the Men’s soccer team was surrounded by their fans and could rejoice as they snapped their losing streak and beat Cobleskill 3-0.
This win was historic as it was the first for head Coach Hall.
In the first quarter of the game, BC would score three goals to take a dominant lead. BC’s rookie of the week, Gavrilov, yet again got the party started as teammate Metreveli found him for an assist, and Gavrilov scored his third goal of the year.
Metreveli himself would get a goal of his own and, with his second assist of the game, helped teammate Khodorkovsky score a goal of his own. Khodorkovsky had four shots, two SOGs, and one goal. Metreveli had one goal, four shots, two assists, and two SOGs, Gavrilov had four shots, one goal, and one SOG, and Junior Adam Moharam had one assist.
BC will stay at home for their next game on Wednesday, Sept. 10, as they face off against the St Joseph’s University Brooklyn Bears.