New Jersey City University Athletics

 

EWING, NJ…The College of New Jersey received a goal in the 14^th minute from senior forward Matt Luber (Delran, NJ/Delran) and junior goalie Matt Kasperavius (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) did not allow the high-powered Gothic Knights to find the net, as New Jersey City University, ranked 16^th in NCAA Division III were shutout for the first time in 36 games, dropping a 1-0 decision to the Lions in a New Jersey Athletic Conference contest at the TCNJ Soccer Facility.

 

NJCU, ranked No. 16 nationally by D3Kicks.com and 21^st by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, falls to 14-3-1 overall. After opening the season at 13-1-1, NJCU is 1-2-0 in its last three games. The shutout marked the first time NJCU has not scored in a game since a 3-0 setback at Rowan University on September 17, 2005.

 

The victory was crucial for the Lions—the defending conference champions­—who entered the game tied for sixth place in the league, and in danger of missing the NJAC Tournament. TCNJ (7-7-1, 4-4-0 NJAC) improves to .500 overall and in the league this season, with its second straight win, boosted its bid for a berth in the six-team NJAC tournament with the upset of NJCU. It was the Lions’ third consecutive win over NJCU.

 

Despite the loss, NJCU’s aspirations for the NJAC tournament are unscathed, and the Gothic Knights still control their own destiny. NJCU will remain at least in a share of second place in the conference at the end of Saturday, and will clinch the No. 2 seed in the NJAC Tournament and a bye in the league semifinals on Tuesday, October 31 if the Gothic Knights can defeat Rutgers University-Camden—the NJAC’s third-place club—in the regular season finale on Wednesday, October 25 at 3 p.m.

 

NJCU owns a 13-game home field winning streak. The Knights have won 23 of their last 24 home contests and own a 35-4-1 ledger in Jersey City over the last four seasons.

 

NJCU outshot TCNJ 14-10 in defeat, including 5-1 in the second half after the first half attempts were even at 9-9-9. The Knights received five saves from junior goalkeeper BRUCE NEVES (Newark, NJ/Hudson Catholic). Kasperavius made six saves for his second shutout of the season.

 

The only goal of the game came at 13:30 of the first half when Luber  scored a game-winner for the Lions for a second straight contest, as he connected for his seventh goal of the season off a feed from senior defender Tim Dudek (Medford, NJ/Bishop Eustace). For Luber, it was his fifth game-winner of the season and 12^th of his career among 18 total goals. Luber and Dudek combined for nine of TCNJ’s 10 shots.

 

The final 20:41 of action was played 10-on-10 as TCNJ junior midfielder Joey McGinley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) and NJCU junior defender SCOTT MODZELEWSKI (Monroe, NJ/Monroe Township) were each assessed with red cards at 69:18.