(Valhalla, NY) - If the first four minutes of the 2019 soccer season is an indication of things to come for Westchester Community College, this is a Vikings team that can strike at any time from any place on the field. While a 10-4-2 2018 campaign was marked by stout defense and an opportunistic offensive attack, on Wednesday afternoon, Westchester CC opened their season with swift and blinding force on the offensive end. Two goals during the first 4:02 put Westchester ahead for good, and just when it seemed visiting Bergen Community College was poised for a comeback, Westchester struck quickly again with two goals in less than two minutes as the Vikings opened the season with a 5-1 win over the Bulldogs.

It took highly touted freshman Tuane Tapper (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon HS) very little time to make his presence felt as the rookie forward scored a spectacular goal at 2:25 thanks in large part to a nifty assist by sophomore Jordan Bennett (Peekskill, NY/Peekskill HS) to make it 1-0 for Westchester. 1:37 later, Tapper found freshman Tiago dos Reis (Danbury, CT/Danbury HS) with a beautiful crossing pass, and dos Reis buried his first collegiate scoring opportunity to make it 2-0 before Bergen could maintain their first offensive possession.

From there, Bergen (0-1) tightened their defense, and slowed the game down, allowing the Bulldogs every opportunity to make a comeback. At 36:39 Bergen sophomore Sebastian Luna fired a shot from outside the box that hit the crossbar. 4:02 later, Bergen freshman Victor Amendano broke up a Westchester clearing opportunity, and fired a shot into the empty net to make it 2-1 heading into halftime.
 

However, Westchester dominated the second half, holding possession for long stretches, and outshooting the Bulldogs 16-4 over the final 45 minutes. At 66:09 a Luis Madriz (Tuckahoe, NY/Tuckahoe HS) shot was met by a diving save by Bergen goalkeeper Randal New, but the rebound went right to Viking freshman Jason Almedia Da Cruz (Yonkers, NY/Escola Secundaria Olavo Moniz), who buried the rebound for his first career collegiate goal to make it 3-1. 1:57 later, Tapper found the net for the second time to make it 4-1. The scoring closed at 87:34 when sophomore Ronny Culcay (Ossining, NY/Ossining HS) sent a long pass over the Bergen defense, and on the foot of freshman Bryam Guaraca (Peekskill, NY/Peekskill HS) for the 5-1 final.

Overall, Westchester CC outshot Bergen 26-10, and doubled up the Bulldogs in corner kicks 4-2.

Westchester CC returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 3 when the Vikings open Region XV play with a trip to Monroe College - Bronx for a 4:00 p.m. start.