POMONA, NJ…Richard Stockton College answered a 1-0 first-half deficit with goals in the 37th and 59th minutes, and in a defensive battle that only featured 20 combined shots, outlasted nationally No. 16 ranked New Jersey City University, 2-1, in a key New Jersey Athletic Conference contest late Sunday afternoon. Stockton edged NJCU in shots, 11-9.
The loss for NJCU (14-4, 4-3 NJAC), the No. 2 ranked team in the Metro Region, ends a seven-game winning streak for the second time this season, as the Gothic Knights fall short of eclipsing the school record for consecutive victories. Meanwhile, Stockton (12-4-1, 5-2-1), fifth in the Metro Region, extended its unbeaten streak to eight games (7-0-1) with the win. RSC leads the all-time series, which began in 1977, 23-3-5, including two straight wins.
While both teams have already clinched two of the six berths in the 2005 NJAC Tournament, which begins on October 29, the game had playoff implications. Stockton now has 16 points and a share of third place with one conference game remaining. NJCU remains in fifth place with 12 points, but with two NJAC games remaining. The top two seeds in the tournament receive a first-round bye.
NJCU struck first, taking a 1-0 lead at 17:07. Sophomore defender
MIKE McCORMICK (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) sent a long ball to senior striker
CHRIS ROSENTHAL (Kearny, NJ/Kearny), and after faking out a charging Stockton keeper, buried his 11
th goal and team and conference leading 35
th point of the season. The assist was
McCormick’s second of the year.
Freshman defender Brett Ferron (Ringwood, NJ/Don Bosco Prep) evened the game at 1-1 at 36:41 when he tapped in a goal-mouth feed from senior forward Scott Adams (Myerstown, PA/E. Lebanon Co.), who notched his 99th career point for the Ospreys. RSC had a 6-3 edge in shots when the deadlocked game went to halftime. The goal was Ferron’s fourth of the season.
The only goal of the second half, and the decisive one in this defensive battle, came at 58:33 when senior midfielder Dan Morse (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) floated a free kick from near midfield into the penalty area, where junior midfielder Brad Westcott (Newfield, NJ/Buena) sent a left-footed volley shot into the top of the goal from 12 yards out, for his third goal of the season.
NJCU pressed for the tying goal in the final 31 minutes, and had a 6-5 edge in shots in the second period, but sophomore goalkeeper Tim McKenna (Sewell, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) made four saves overall, and the Osprey defense was able to keep the Gothic Knights off the board the remainder of the contest.
Sophomore keeper
BRUCE NEVES (Newark, NJ/Hudson Catholic) made six saves while losing for only the third time this season (13-3) and fourth time in his career (16-4-1).
Corner kicks in the game were even at 5-5, although NJCU had a 4-0 margin in the second half. A combined 39 fouls were whistled in the game.
NJCU, which owns a 3-0 ledger this season against nationally-ranked opponents, will square off with #8 Ramapo College on Monday at 3 p.m. in a make-up home game at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
