By Ralph Chery, Contributor | 

The CCNY Men’s soccer team travels to the College of Staten Island this Saturday for their first CUNYAC match-up of the season. This game will be the rematch of last year’s final, a game that CCNY won 2-1 in overtime.

Senior keeper Maxwell Berkow is well aware of Staten Island’s desire to avenge themselves on Saturday, having lost in a final as well.

“My freshman year we lost in the finals to Baruch off of an overtime goal in a well-fought game,” Berkow said. “And I know each of us just wanted another shot at it. I’m sure CSI is feeling the same way and will try their hardest to fix their mistakes from last year.”

CSI currently has the best record in the league, 3-2-1, which is their best start since 2003. They managed to open their season on a good note even though they lost five of their starters from last year, including their keeper John Gioeli and assist leader Emanuel Agboola.

Christopher Lavelle shared that the way to defeat CSI is to step on the field the same way the team did last year.

“We plan to encounter the CSI game the same way we did last season,” Lavelle said. “We know that it is going to a very physical game so we are going to play them hard and stay mentally strong, knowing that they want it as bad as we do especially considering last season’s results. Coach has a plan and we are going to stick to it.”

The Beavers are only missing two of their starters from last year’s final, Clifford Leriche and Mostafa Haridi. But they now have their top-scorer back, Kenny Redzematovic, who missed City’s last six games because of a knee injury last year.

Contrary to the Dolphins, City College is off a poor start this season, winning only two of their six opening games against non-conference opponents. However, the champions are on a six game winning streak against conference opponents, a stretch they started from the end of the last regular season to the playoffs.

Winning against last year’s finalists, and currently the best team in the league, can serve as the first sign that CCNY is still fighting hard to defend their title this season.

A confident Lavelle spoke on the matter. “If we can get the win, I know that we can really get our season started and become a real threat to this conference.”

*Cover photo by Curtis Ashley / CCNY Beaver Beat