Berkmar Boys Beat Parkview in Dramatic Fashion

Emotions ran high at Berkmar High School Tuesday night as former Parkview Coach Tracy Crouch and former Parkview player Ernesto Cardenas led undefeated Berkmar (6-0-1) to a 3-1 victory over the Panthers (3-3) in boys soccer.

Parkview won the girls game 8-0.

Ten minutes into the boys game, Cardenas made his impact.

After receiving the ball, he ran shoulder-t0-shoulder with Parkview defender Tommy Lehner. Cardenas wrapped his arm around Lehner and pulled himself and the ball past the defender.  Two additional Parkview defenders collided with Cardenas and the linesman had no choice but to call a penalty for Berkmar.

Cardenas was selected to take the penalty kick and he blasted a shot to the left of Parkview’s keeper Jack Falle for a 1-0 lead. Parkview players and coaches stood stunned as Cardenas celebrated with his new team in front of the Parkview bench.

 “It felt great to score,” Cardenas said. “It’s been a great experience for me. Pretty much my whole life changed, not making Parkview, moving schools three months away from graduating. It felt so great, my own personal vengeance.”

Cardenas was on a mission to prove his worth after being cut by Parkview earlier this year.

Parkview, which aimed to avenge a loss to Berkmar last year, found it difficult to rebound and were dominated by Berkmar’s quick passing in the midfield.

Falle made a spectacular save right before the half as he soared to his right to stop a free kick from Berkmar’s Martin Lugo.

With two minutes left in the half, Kwadwo Twumasi of Berkmar netted a goal from a corner kick. Parkview’s defense was left watching the ball go into the net as Twumasi was left wide open on the far side of the box.

Parkview’s captain Pete Charter was booked with a yellow card in the last minute of the half as frustration fell in.

Berkmar went into halftime up 2-0.

The intensity of the game picked up in the second half as both teams went into tackles with full force.

The referee was a prominent figure in the game, handing out 10 yellow cards and one red card. One yellow each was issued for Berkmar coaches Crouch and assistant Jeff Welp.

The referee was very strict and set a tone early that meant every hard tackle had to be given a yellow. The referee missed the Berkmar crowd as it yelled in unison a certain obscenity in Spanish after every kick from Parkview’s keeper.

The large Berkmar crowd was lively; playing guitars and drums, yelling and cheering on their team. The tension of a real soccer match was in the air.

Parkview’s defense looked tired after resisting several attacks by Berkmar’s forwards.

Cristian Chirinos of Berkmar was left wide open on the left side of the field and took on Parkview keeper Falle one-on-one. Falle was worried about two more Berkmar players running into the opposite side of the box in front of the Parkview defenders.

Chirinos took advantage of the numbers by turning his body to feint a pass. Instead of passing, Chirinos kicked the ball past Falle to bring Berkmar to a 3-0 lead with 26 minutes left to go in the game.

Charter was fouled hard and retaliated by pulling down the Berkmar player. The referee quickly blew his whistle. Charter was sent off for his second yellow card of the night with 15 minutes to go in the game.

Parkview continued to push in the final minutes as Charter’s leadership on the field was replaced by C.J. Ciarlante.

Ciarlante scored Parkview’s only goal of the night to bring the score to 3-1 in favor of Berkmar. The ball bounced around in the box after a corner kick and Ciarlante kicked the ball, which deflected off teammate Sammy Korgi and went into the back of the net.

Ciarlante played his first game for Parkview after having knee surgery and bravely fought for his team before being taken off by his coach after a rough series of clean tackles by Berkmar players.

Berkmar was able to repel the constant waves of Parkview’s attacks in the last 10 minutes of the game to win.

“Parkview is always a powerhouse and it is just a tremendous win for us,” Crouch said. “We have 12 seniors on our club and these boys want to make their mark on Berkmar soccer.”

Undefeated Berkmar has made their mark and now looks like the top contender to win a playoff spot in Region 8-AAAAA. “Our ultimate goal is to get into the state playoffs, that is our No. 1 objective,” remarked Crouch.

If this was not a rivalry before, it surely is now. Berkmar has now beaten Parkview two straight years. The Panthers had a night to forget as they will try to put this loss behind them. The Lilburn soccer showdown was a match to remember.

The Parkview (3-3) girls defeated the Berkmar‘s (1-4) girls 8-0.

The Parkview girls seem to have righted the ship after three losses in the past four games.

Alex Ober opened the scoring for Parkview just 15 minutes into the game. She scored again just four minutes later for a 2-0 lead, and completed a one-half hat trick with her third goal eight minutes later.

Parkview’s Katherine Jory scored in between Ober’s second and third goal. Erin Baker scored a goal with five minutes left until halftime.

Parkview went into the half with a comfortable 5-0 lead.

Ober was not finished scoring for the night and netted her fourth goal.

Baker completed a brace as she scored her second goal of the night as Parkview led 7-0.

Parkview’s keeper Asha Wright was put into the field by Coach Judson Hamby with a few minutes left in the game. Wright then scored Parkview’s eighth goal of the night.

Ober almost scored her fifth goal of the night in Olympic style. She took a corner kick and the ball curled past the goalkeeper and rattled the top post.

Parkview’s girls were desperate for a win after losing two straight games. The girls may no longer be the dominant force in Georgia high school soccer, but they still have a chance at making playoffs if they continue to rack up region results like this.

Parkview visits South Gwinnett Friday night with the girls starting at 5:30 p.m.

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