JERSEY CITY, NJ (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sophomore forward NANA KOFI KUSI (Jersey City, NJ/Kumasi Academy (Ghana)) and junior forward WALTER AVANS (Roselle Park, NJ/Union Catholic) each netted a hat trick—with Kofi Kusi collecting two assists for an eight-point effort—and junior midfielder TOM KRYCHKOWSKI (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington) had a career day with two goals and an assist as the New Jersey City University men's soccer team pounded John Jay College, 10-0, in a non-conference game on Columbus Day afternoon at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
NJCU outshot John Jay, 22-8, and scored on 10 of its 14 shots on goal as the Knights improve to 6-8 overall. John Jay drops to 5-7-2. NJCU leads the all-time series, 14-0, and posted its 12th shutout in the 14 games, while outscoring the Bloodhounds 77-2.
Kofi Kusi became just the eighth player in school history to notch eight points in a game; the program record is nine points, accomplished twice. Meanwhile, Avans moved into sole possession of ninth place in school history with 24 career goals.
Rookie defender KEVIN SCRIVANICH (Flanders, NJ/Mount Olive) and sophomore forward VARSIAH KAMARA (Newark, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep) each netted the first goals of their NJCU careers, with Scrivanich's 13th minute header proving to be the game-winner.
Freshman midfielder JUAN CARLOS LEAL (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) collected two assists. NJCU also received single assists from junior midfielder TAREK YAKOUBI (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic) and junior forward ALEX CERON (Belleville, NJ/Belleville).
NJCU recorded its fifth shutout of the season as rookie keeper ZAKARY AZMI (New Milford, NJ/Emerson) played the first 55:46 without making a save and junior MIGUEL PEREZ (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson)—who saw his first time since September 22 after suffering an injury—made two saves in 34:14 of action. NJCU rookie sweeper MOSTAFA IBRAHIM (Cairo, Egypt/Elharam (Cairo, Egypt) also made a first-half team save.
Prior to last week, NJCU had not had two players record a hat trick in the same game since October 17, 2005, but have now seen the feat occur twice in one week (October 4, 2010 vs. Lehman), with Avans being involved in both situations. He notched his second hat trick of the season and third of his career.
NJCU got the only goal it needed at 12:45 of the first half. Leal launched a corner kick and Scrivanich charged the box, unleashing a diving header under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead.
Avans, who increased his team scoring lead to seven goals, made it 2-0 at 25:16. He stole the ball from a defender, sidestepped a second player in the backfield and ripped a shot that was partially tipped by diving freshman keeper Steven Merino (Bronx, NY/Salesian), before settling in the net for an unassisted marker.
Avans nearly scored again at 27:05 but hit the crossbar from inside the box. Ibrahim made a clear on the right post at 31:47 off a shot from John Jay junior Jason Walker (Windsor, CT/Windsor).
Krychkowski, who entered the game with nine career points and three goals, made the most of his 55 minutes of reserve time. At 33:43, Kofi Kusi—who played 38 minutes off the bench—dished a thru ball from midfield onto the left wing. Krychkowski ripped home a one-timer for a 3-0 margin.
Less than six minutes later, the two exchanged roles. Krychkowski vaulted a cross onto the top of the box and Kofi Kusi, with a defender and the keeper approaching, got enough on his shot to send the slow-rolling ball into the net before a racing Bloodhound defender could clear it. The goal at 39:39 made it 4-0, which was the score at the intermission.
Early in the second half, Krychkowski struck again. At 50:45, Leal delivered a thru ball onto the right wing where Krychkowski gathered, dribbled to the net and with the keeper trying to cut off the shot, blasted a one-timer inside the near, right post, for his second goal of the game and the season.
Avans scored his second goal of the game at 59:33. Kofi Kusi made a nice play to settle a clear on top of his foot, passing the ball to the left wing where Avans buried a one-timer on a tough angle inside the far post for a 6-0 margin.
Less than two minutes later, Kofi Kusi made it 7-0 with an unassisted goal as he won possession, dribbled past several defenders into the box and slipped a falling-away shot into the lower left corner as he was leaning towards the right post.
Avans completed his hat trick at 65:16. Yakoubi won the ball at the top of the box, one-touched a ball onto the right portion of the box, and set up Avans for another one-timer.
Less than 90 seconds later, Kofi Kusi finalized his hat trick in a unique way. Merino—who made four saves—tried to clear a loose ball in the box but slammed a line drive right into Kofi Kusi, who rushed the box to apply pressure. The ball caromed off Kofi Kusi and into the net at 66:44.
Ceron made up for missing an empty net on a breakaway at 77:42 when he assisted on the final goal of the contest at 79:19—slipping a thru ball onto the left wing where he set up Kamara for a breakaway, before a shot was finished from 20 yards out into the right of the net.
NJCU, which scored on six of its 10 second half shots, played possession soccer the final 10:41, to complete the victory.
NJCU is back in action on Wednesday, October 13 at 4 p.m. when it hosts the College of Staten Island in a non-conference game. JJC next meets City College of New York the same day at 3:30 p.m. in a CUNYAC game.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
|
GAME NOTES:
|
- WALTER AVANS passed Jonathan Bilbao (2005-08), Jose DeBernard (2002, 2004) and Elkin Alzate (1993-96) to move into ninth place. Tied for sixth in school history with 25 goals are three players: Hall-of-Famer John Downey (1959-61), two-time NJAC Midfielder of the Year Edison Bilbao (2005-08) and Marcelo Carpio (2005-07).
|
|
Team Stat Comparison
|
|
|
NJCU
|
JOHN JAY
|
|
Score
|
10
|
0
|
|
Halftime
|
4
|
0
|
|
Shots
|
22
|
8
|
|
Shots On Goal
|
14
|
3
|
|
Saves
|
3
|
4
|
|
Corner Kicks
|
6
|
2
|
|
Fouls
|
16
|
8
|
|
Offsides
|
9
|
3
|
|
Caution Cards
|
2
|
0
|
