New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sophomore midfielder ANDREW LOPES (Union, NJ/Union) scored his first three goals of the season and New Jersey City University needed each of them to avoid an upset loss to John Jay College. The Bloodhounds scored two goals in under two minutes to tie the game at 4-4 in the 75^th minute, before Lopes, who collected his first career multiple-goal game, netted the winner in the 76^th minute before completing a hat trick with a late tally as NJCU overcame John Jay, 6-4, in a non-conference men's soccer game on September 17 at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
 
NJCU improved to 5-2 overall, outshooting the Bloodhounds (1-4-2), 29-13, one year after John Jay defeated NJCU for the first time ever. The Gothic Knights lead the all-time series, 15-1. John Jay had scored just five goals in the previous 15 meetings before tallying four in the wild game; NJCU has an 85-9 goal differential in the series.
 
Lopes, who scored just once as a freshman in 2011, netted NJCU's first marker just 1:58 into the game, before tacking on the fifth and sixth goals. Sophomore forward RAPHAEL ARAUJO (North Plainfield, NJ/North Plainfield), the NCAA Division III leader in goals and points, scored his 12^th and 13^th goals of the season in the 19^th and 27^th minutes, to put NJCU back in front, 3-2, after John Jay had tied it on a 10^th minute penalty kick and scored on a free   
Sophomore midfielder MARCO AVELLA (Union, NJ/Union), who tallied one assist as a freshman last year, scored the fourth goal for NJCU in the 56^th minute before assisting on the insurance marker in the 88^th minute for a 6-4 lead. It was his first career goal and multi-point day (three points).
 
Senior center midfielder EDUARDO TEJADA (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington)   contributed his fourth and fifth assists of the season on NJCU's first two goals and he moved into 10^th place in school history with 14 career helpers. Freshman ALEC METSCH (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) chipped in his third assist of the season.
 
Four different players scored unassisted goals for the Bloodhounds. Sophomore midfielder Justin Osorio (Corona, NY/W.C.Bryant) nailed a penalty kick to tie game at the 9:56 mark with his first goal of the season before junior forward Navid Allah Morad (Balkh, Afghanistan/Flushing International) put JJC in front at the 18:19 mark on a free kick for his second goal of the season.
 
With NJCU leading 4-2, freshman midfielder Christ Assou (Philadelphia, PA/University City) scored an incredible goal, his third of the year, at the 72:47 juncture to make it a one-goal game before sophomore midfielder Wilson Quinde (Cuenca, Ecuador/Newtown) tied it just 1:51 later burying a defensive giveaway at the 74:36 mark.

Junior SHELDON PARKINSON (New Rochelle, NY/Herbert H. Lehman (Bronx, NY) made his first start since being injured in the season opener on August 31, and allowed two goals in the first 45 minutes (no saves). Freshman KEVIN FUENTES (West New York, NJ/Memorial) entered with the lead at halftime, and ended up winning the game after John Jay tied it. He made one save to improve to 5-1.
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Vitecha Kochaon (South Pasadena, CA/South Pasadena) played the first 72:47 in net, making two saves against four goals before being relieved by junior Steven Merino (Bronx, NY/Salesian), who made three saves, but allowed the final two goals.
 
The game was unusually physical for a non-conference contest, with 48 fouls (John Jay, 29; NJCU, 19) and seven caution cards (NJCU, 5; John Jay, 2).
 
NJCU struck first, just 1:58 into play. After a foul, Tejada took a free kick from just outside the far left side of the box, eight yards off the endline, chipping a ball into the right side of the box, before Lopes flicked a shot into the left side of the target.
 
JJC would tie the game at the 9:56 mark. After an NJCU foul in the box, a penalty kick was awarded and Osorio pounded a shot into the right side of the net.
 
An NJCU foul just outside the top of the box gave John Jay a free kick and Allah Morad capitalized, firing a shot over the defense and into the right side of the goal for a 2-1 lead at 18:19.
 
The lead lasted just 29 seconds as Tejada slipped a pass onto the left wing in a 2-on-1 break, which Araujo buried to tie the game.
 
Araujo, who tallied his fourth multi-goal effort of the season, put NJCU in front at halftime, 3-2, when he headed a long throw in from Metsch along the right sideline, inside the left post from the middle of the box at 26:51. NJCU had a 14-6 edge in shots at the half.
 
NJCU made it a two-goal lead at 55:42 when Avella was awarded a free kick after a foul from the top of the box, unleashing a shot into the near left side of the target.
 
But minutes after NJCU subbed out most of its starters, John Jay took advantage. First, at the 72:47 mark Assou had a scintillating goal, curling a shot from near the top of the box through the wind, into the top right corner for a 4-3 game.
 
JJC would tie it at 74:36 as Quinde gathered a loose ball and rifled a shot into the left side of the goal, past a diving keeper.
 
Facing late-game adversity, NJCU would regain the lead just 50 seconds later (75:46), as Lopes bent a shot from the left side of the box into the right side of the goal, past a diving keeper. The game-winning shot grazed off a defender.
 
The Knights iced it at the 87:43 mark. After a foul on JJC, Avella took a free kick from one yard outside the right edge of the box, sending a cross onto the left side where Lopes uncorked a leaping chip top shelf for the final goal.
 
NJCU is back on the pitch on Wednesday, September 19 at 4 p.m. when it faces Ramapo College in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game in Mahwah, NJ. John Jay faces Medgar Evers College that night at 7 p.m. in Brooklyn, NY.