SELINSGROVE, PA…Senior midfielder Jason Zeisloft (Millville, PA/Millville) tied the game with 3:30 remaining, and sophomore forward Nate Snyder (Catawissa, PA/Southern Columbia) knocked in the game-winner with 55 seconds on the board, as Susquehanna University rallied from a 3-2 deficit in the final minutes to shock New Jersey City University, 4-3, in a non-conference game late Friday night in Central Pennsylvania.
The last-minute win gives the Crusaders a 9-3 record and their first victory in men’s soccer against NJCU (8-5). The Gothic Knights won the only other meeting, 2-0, last season.
In defeat, senior forward ADRIAN RUIZ (Fairview, NJ/Dickinson) came off the bench to score his 60th career point, to move into third place in program history. Ruiz now has 22 goals and 16 assists, and passed Neophytos Zambas, who tallied 59 points from 1996-1999.
The Crusaders outshot NJCU, 16-15, including 9-7 in the first half in gaining a 2-1 edge. SU opened the scoring at the 14:40 mark as junior midfielder Chris Collier (Allentown, NJ/North Burlington Regional) scored his first goal of the season off an assist by Snyder.
Junior forward CHRIS ROSENTHAL (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) tied it less than a minute later with his team-leading 11th goal of the season when he netted a shot past SU’s approaching keeper at 15:33.
Snyder who finished with five points, gave the Crusaders a 2-1 advantage at 30:59 when he headed in a pass from senior defender Nate Gibboney (Huntingdon, PA/Huntingdon Area).
SU held the 2-1 edge for 29 minutes, until Ruiz drilled a penalty kick to draw the score even at exactly 60:00.
The Knights looked like they would pull the game out when freshman forward JULIO GARCIA (West New York, NJ/Memorial) finished his third goal of the year for a 3-2 NJCU lead at 83:25.
However, Zeisloft tied it at 86:30 on an unassisted goal, and Snyder took a pass from freshman forward Seth Baughman (Howard, PA/Central Mountain) and beat senior goalkeeper BABA GUISSE (Jersey City, NJ/Lycee Eugene Delacroix, France) for his 13th goal of the season and sixth game-winner at 89:05.
Guisse played well in defeat, stopping eight shots (four in each half). Sophomore Austin Kelsey (Benton, PA/Benton) made six saves for SU and improved to 5-1 with a 0.83 goals against average in six starts this season.
NJCU returns to action on Wednesday, October 13 at 7pm with a make-up road contest at Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh, NY.
