WEEK of: AUGUST 29-31, 2008
For the sixth time in his career, senior forward
CRISTHIAN ACUNA (East Newark, NJ/Harrison) is the NJCU Men's Athlete of the Week, and he is the first Gothic Knight athlete to receive that distinction this season in any sport.
Acuna scored twice in the first 18:18 of the first half to stake #12 ranked
New Jersey City University to a 2-0 lead over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) before NJCU fell 3-2, in the 2008 season opener on August 29 in the opening round of the Red Hawk Classic at Renwyck Field.
Acuna, the 2007 New Jersey Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, scored twice early to give the Gothic Knights what appeared to be a comfortable early lead. Acuna opened the scoring at 7:53 of the first half on an unassisted goal. He settled a deflected ball on the top left corner of the box and blasted a shot from 18 yards out into the upper right corner of the net.
At 18:18, Acuna received a thru ball up the middle at 10 yards out. There he rifled a shot off the RPI sophomore keeper, before tucking the short rebound into the goal from six yards out. Acuna’s second goal gave NJCU a 2-0 margin.
Acuna’s two goals gives him 85 career points, one behind Adrian Ruiz (2001-04) for second place in scoring in school history. He also tied Hall-of-Famer Thomas Briscoe (1963-66) for fifth in school history in goals with 27.
For Acuna, who scored twice in NJCU’s loss in the NCAA Sweet 16 last year, it was the second consecutive two-goal game for the striker and his fifth career multiple-goal contest.
