New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES
POST-GAME INTERVIEWS: "Gothic Knight Insights" with MARCO AVELLA, NANA KOFI KUSI, ALEC METSCH and Coach Patrick Snyder


JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | In the blink of an eye, the New Jersey City University men's soccer team went from a 1-0 heart-breaking loss to a 2-1 stunning upset winner. Unbeaten and #6/7 ranked New York University took a 1-0 lead with 10:24 remaining, and after giving up just three goals in its first nine games, appeared to be on its way to another win. But the Gothic Knights struck for two goals in a span of 1:47—the game-tying score off the head of rookie center midfielder ALEC METSCH (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick), before senior midfielder NANA KOFI KUSI (Newark, NJ/Kumasi Academy (Ghana) tucked a rebounder under the crossbar with just 3:45 remaining, as NJCU stunned NYU, 2-1, in a non-conference game on October 3 at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.

NJCU improved to 9-4, while handing NYU its first loss in 10 games (9-1). The Violets, ranked #1 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) East Region Poll, entered the contest as the #6 team in the country in the NSCAA Division III national poll, and 7^th overall by D3soccer.com.
 
NYU had outscored opponents, 25-3, in its first nine contests, not allowed more than one goal in any contest, and owned the fourth lowest goals against average (0.33) in the nation. 
The Violets become the second Top 10 opponent the Knights have upset in the past four years. On October 30, 2009, NJCU stunned then #3/4 Montclair State University by the same 2-1 score in overtime in Jersey City. Its last game against a ranked opponent resulted in a tie on October 26, 2011 when NJCU deadlocked with #10/16 Rutgers-Camden, 1-1, in Camden, NJ.
 
NJCU junior goalkeeper SHELDON PARKINSON (New Rochelle, NY/Herbert H. Lehman (Bronx, NY) made eight saves in the win. NYU senior Jonas Poster (Newton, MA/Newton North) made four stops in absorbing his first defeat.
 
“I told the guys afterwards that this waiting until the other team scores to kind of really get after it [offensively] is going to make me a lot older than I am, a lot faster,” first-year head coach Patrick Snyder joked, about his club's late offensive prowess. “But it kind of woke us up. I feel confident going forward against almost anybody that we have a good chance. We have a lot of talent and a lot of ability to attack. It's innate in our guys and it's going to serve us well when conference play continues.”
 
Snyder added: “It's just fantastic for the guys. It just shows that the hard work they've been putting in, the effort and the fighting has really paid off. It was a good effort against a GOOD team.”
 
“This means we can take on any team,” noted Metsch about the significance of the win. “We shouldn't be intimidated by anyone at this point. We just beat a nationally ranked team so we're right up there with everyone   
In a contest where both defenses were on display under threatening skies, there was no first half scoring and just six shots on goal between the sides in the first 45 minutes.
 
Defense continued to rule for most of the second half before NYU struck first in a scoreless game at the 79:36 mark. Senior forward Paolo Luciano (North White Plains, NY/Valhalla) slipped a pass to senior forward Kyle Green (Dallas, TX/Jesuit College Prep) from just inside the 18. The University Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Week unleashed a shot that Parkinson was able to get a piece of, but the ball caromed off his finger tips and skipped into the middle of the goal before the backline could retreat in time for a clear. The ninth goal of the season for Green was also his sixth in three games for NYU; Luciano registered his third assist.
 
Three minutes later, Parkinson made an incredible save that proved to be decisive, as sophomore midfielder Mickey Ingerman (Baton Rouge, LA/St. Steven's Episcopal School) uncorked a point blank shot in the box. At the very last second, the 6-foot-5 Parkinson elevated and poked a save over the crossbar to maintain a one-goal deficit at the 82:39 mark.
 
Trailing by one, NJCU's youth got the equalizer at the 84:28 mark. Sophomore midfielder MARCO AVELLA (Union, NJ/Union) chipped a corner kick from the far right endline into the middle of the box, where Metsch, known more for his long throws than his goal production, scored the biggest marker of his rookie campaign, heading the game-tying goal—his second of the season—inside the left post. The assist was Avella's second of the season.
 
Avella, describing the setup to the goal, said: “I was basically looking to get it inside the box, because my corner kicks weren't working too well today. I finally got one in and Alec put it away.”
 
Metsch, reviewing his game-tying goal added: “I go in for corner kicks and I want to score every time. But this time was clutch time. I saw the ball coming, I saw it going over everyone and I just placed it, through a kids' legs.”
 
With the game knotted at 1-1, NJCU got the winner just moments later. Rookie forward ABOUBACAR DIAWARA (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) took a shot from the left endline that was blocked by an NYU defender. The ball ricocheted into the center of the box where Kofi Kusi stuck the rebound underneath the crossbar at the 86:15 mark. His fifth goal of the season set off a wild celebration.
 
“I think so,” said Kofi Kusi when asked if it was the biggest goal of his career. “When the ball was coming, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I should shoot a one-timer or control it first. That's what came into my mind. I just have got to control the ball and shoot it. I was happy [his reaction when it went it]. It was one of the biggest goals of my life. We're going to keep on working hard to achieve what we want to achieve this season.”
 
NYU, trying to prevent an upset, had two decent looks at the net in the final 75 seconds, including one save by  Parkinson off a Luciano attempt, before the Gothic Knight defense, which included full 90 minutes of action by junior MOHAMED CONTEH (Trenton, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro North), sophomore EDWIN UMANZOR (Linden, NJ/Linden) and rookie CHRISTOPHER SEGOVIA (North Bergen, NJ/Memorial), and 45 minutes from freshman defender TYLER KRYCHKOWSKI (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington), sealed the one-goal victory.

“The guys have bought into our team defensive concept,” noted Snyder of his team's defensive effort. “We've been giving up about two goals per game and we've been trying to bring that down just to give us a better chance in some of these games. It's a whole effort from the back four, including Alec [Metsch] and Sheldon [Parkinson] and all the way forward. Everybody buys in and we're better off.”
 
NJCU outshot NYU, 19-17, due to its late push. Green and Luciano each had five shots for the visitors; Luciano had four on goal. Senior center midfielder EDUARDO TEJADA (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington)  led NJCU with four shots while Diawara and NCAA Division III points per game and goals per game leader, RAPHAEL ARAUJO (North Plainfield, NJ/North Plainfield), who played his first game since being injured on September 26, each attempted three shots. In all, 11 different NJCU players had a shot.
 
NJCU is back on the pitch on Monday, October 8 at 7 p.m. in non-conference action against St. Joseph's College (LI) in Patchogue, NY. NYU hosts the University of Rochester on Saturday, October 6 at 1:30 p.m. in UAA action.
 
Snyder summarized by saying: “I think this gives us a lot of confidence that we could play with anybody. We can go out there and put the effort in. Win or lose we're still with everybody. No one has destroyed us and it gives our guys a belief that we can keep going and hopefully it propels us forward.”