New Jersey City University Athletics

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…On a day where some record were tied and another broken, the New Jersey City University men’s soccer team received two goals from junior forward CHRIS ROSENTHAL (Kearny, NJ/Kearny), and an earlier game-winner from sophomore midfielder JUAN VERA (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) and blanked Green Mountain College (VT), 3-0, to capture the championship of the inaugural Association of Division III Independents Men’s Soccer Northeast Regional Tournament.

 

NJCU, the No. 1 seed, improved to 13-7 overall by posting shutouts in each game of the tournament and outscoring its opponents 7-0 during the weekend. NJCU has won three straight games, all via shutout.

 

The 13^th win ties the 2000 and 2003 clubs for the second highest victory total in school history. NJCU, which hosted the tournament at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field, also scored its 72^nd goal of the season in its 20^th game, matching the mark for most offense established by the 2001 club, which went 17-7. NJCU is the No. 4 ranked scoring offense in Division III.

Green Mountain, the third seed, dropped to 9-10 overall with the loss. It was the first ever meeting between the schools in men’s soccer.

 

NJCU senior forward ADRIAN RUIZ (Fairview, NJ/Dickinson), who scored twice in the semifinals and added a brilliant assist in the title game, was a near unanimous choice as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

 

Rosenthal, sophomore sweeper RONNIE SANCHEZ (Clifton, NJ/Clifton), junior midfielder OMAR ALI (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne), and freshman center midfielder JOHN JENSEN (Monroe, NJ/Monroe Township) were all selected to the All-Tournament team, giving the Gothic Knights five players on the 11-man team.

 

Senior defender Brett Foster (Portland, ME), senior midfielder John On’Gala (Nairobi, Kenya), and senior midfielder Mitch Thomson (Wall, NJ) were named to the All-Tournament team for GMC.

NJCU outshot GMC 25-11, and got on the board at 11:07 of the first half when senior defender JOSE BLACKBURN (Montclair, NJ/Montclair) heaved a long throw in from the left sideline that Vera headed inside the right post. The tally was Vera’s third of the season.

 

Rosenthal made it 2-0 at 30:01 of the first period, when Jensen and Ruiz made two quick passes, including a beautiful one-touch into the box by Ruiz. The double assist opened Rosenthal for a 1-on-1 opportunity that he buried for his 17^th goal of the season and 38^th point. Jensen’s pass was his sixth assist.

 

The assist for Ruiz gave him nine assists this season, 21 in his career, and 75 career points. He is three points shy of matching the career record of 78 by Marc Palumbo (1989-2002). He is also one assist shy of matching the single-season record, and two short of the career record of 23. He has 29 points this season.

 

With another record looming, Rosenthal was not finished scoring. At 75:07, freshman forward ALLAN FLORES (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) fed a perfect cross from the right wing to the top of the box for his fourth assist of the year, and Rosenthal rifled the pass into the right corner with a spectacular spinning one-timer.

 

The goal by Rosenthal gave him 18 goals and four assists for the season, and broke the single-season school record for points with 40. Pedro Prior achieved the previous record of 39 points just last season, after originally standing since 1975. The 18^th goal by Rosenthal also tied him with Prior for the one-season program record.

 

Senior goalkeeper BABA GUISSE (Jersey City, NJ/Lycee Eugene Delacroix, France) stopped one shot to register his school-record tying 10th shutout of the season, and added to his own school record with his 21^st career shutout and his third in a row. He tied the mark of 10 shutouts that Jeff East, the younger brother of head coach Kevin East notched in 2000.

 

Senior keeper Matt Rominger (Elmira, NY) made five saves for the Eagles. There was one GMC team save.

 

NJCU will conclude the regular season on Saturday, November 6 at 12pm when the Knights celebrate “Senior Day” with a home game against Lincoln University (PA).

-WWW.NJCU.EDU/GOKNIGHTS-