New Jersey City University Athletics

NJCU (17-6) ties the single-season record for victories, equaling the 2001 (17-7) and 2004 (17-7) clubs, and while playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, advances to the second round. It was the first-ever NCAA game for each school.

 

The Knights will square off with #8 ranked York College (PA), 3-2 winners over host VWC in the first round, on Sunday, November 13 at 6 p.m., with a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 on the line. The game will be aired on the “Green and Gold Network” on the NJCU athletics website. NJCU and York (PA) have never met in their histories. York (18-2-2) has won a school-record 14 straight and are unbeaten in its last 15 contests.

 

NJCU has dominated nationally ranked opponents in 2005, and the Knights now own a 6-1 record this season against ranked teams with a 20-6 scoring margin. The Knights have scored 87 goals in 23 games overall, and ironically have outscored all opponents by an 87-23 margin. The school record for goals in one season is 90 in 2004. The Knights outshot the Bulldogs, 20-7, and registered their 11^th shutout of the season.

 

CHRIS ROSENTHAL" src="/images/msoccer/2005/11/13/10-17-05%20Chris%20Rosenthal%208.jpg" width=150 align=left border=0>DeSales, the champions of the MAC Freedom conference, has its season end at 15-3-2. It was NJCU’s second victory over the Bulldogs this year, after edging DSU, 2-1, in the second game of the season on September 4.

 

The decisive goal came just 2:12 into the contest as Bilbao took possession of a corner kick that the Bulldogs could not clear, and knocked the free ball into the net for his seventh goal of the season and his fourth game-winner.

 

Rosenthal, the 2005 New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Year, bagged his 14^th goal of the season and 48^th of his career, when he received a throw-in from sophomore defender MIKE McCORMICK (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick), turned, and blasted a shot into the far corner at 38:25, as the Knights built a 2-0 lead. The goal allowed him to regain the team and NJAC lead with 42 points, and was the 122^nd of his career. The assist was McCormick’s third of the year.

 

JUAN ZUNIGA" src="/images/msoccer/2005/11/13/10-17-05%20Juan%20Zuniga%204.jpg" width=150 align=left border=0>Just 1:04 before half-time, Zuniga, who has made a habit of scoring goals in limited field time, did so again. At 43:56, he collected a thru ball from junior midfielder CHRIS PALUMBO (Spotswood, NJ/Spotswood), and one-touched a shot past the DSU keeper, giving the Knights an insurmountable 3-0 halftime lead.

 

For Zuniga, who played only 10 minutes in the game, it was his sixth goal of the year. The assist was Palumbo’s fourth.

              

After outshooting DSU in the first half, 10-3, the three-goal margin was all that the NJCU defensive unit of juniors ANTHONY FLORES (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) and RONNIE SANCHEZ (Clifton, NJ/Clifton), and sophomores JOHN JENSEN (Monroe Township, NJ/Monroe Township) and McCormick needed, as the Knights again uncorked 10 second half shots, and limited the Bulldogs to only four attempts.

              

Sophomore keeper BRUCE NEVES (Newark, NJ/Hudson Catholic) made two saves and registered his 16^th win of the year for NJCU. Sophomore keeper Rusty Riedmiller (Stroudsburg, NJ/Stroudsburg) made four saves in defeat for DeSales.