BOX SCORE
ROCKY MOUNT, NC (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com)...Sophomore forward #J.P. ROSERO# (Jersey City, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep) broke open a scoreless game in the 85th minute and set up a penalty kick just 1:27 later to seal it and junior goalkeeper MIGUEL PEREZ (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) made five saves as the New Jersey City University men's soccer team registered its second straight shutout to open the 2010 campaign, blanking Randolph College, 2-0, in the opening round of the Roger Taylor Fall Classic hosted by North Carolina Wesleyan College on Saturday afternoon.
NJCU (2-0), winners of three straight dating to the 2009 season, open the year with two wins for the first time since beginning the 2004 campaign at 3-0. In the first-ever meeting against Randolph, the WildCats suffered their first loss (1-1). NJCU owned a slight 13-12 edge in shots for the game, but put just three on goal while Randolph had five on target.
Freshman defender KEVIN SCRIVANICH (Flanders, NJ/Mount Olive) assisted on Rosero's eventual game-winner at 84:12 of the second half before sophomore midfielder GABRIEL AVANS (Roselle Park, NJ/Union Catholic) cashed in on a penalty kick at 85:39 for his second goal of the year after Rosero was dragged down in the box by Randolph senior keeper Aaron Humphreys (Powhatan, VA/Powhatan).
“We still need to work on chemistry, with our new guys trying to adapt to our system while learning to play with the returning players, but overall the effort was there today,” observed second-year head coach NANSHA KALONJI. “The guys worked hard, made good runs and passes. We were more disciplined today.”
In the first half, NJCU came close to scoring in the final minute when sophomore forward NANA KOFI KUSI (Jersey City, NJ/Kumasi Academy (Ghana), seeking his second goal of the year, hit the post just 56 seconds before halftime.
The Knights finally broke through with less than six minutes remaining in regulation. Avans sent a throw-in to Scrivanich on the right sideline, who served a ball to Rosero for a header down the middle of the goal and over Humphreys at 84:12.
Just over a minute later, Rosero, who was playing in his first game of the year, took control of a turnover at midfield and drove to the goal in a 1-on-1 situation with the keeper. As he was dribbling past Humphreys, he was fouled by the keeper. With NJCU awarded a penalty kick, GABRIEL AVANS drew the assignment, and buried an insurance goal at 85:39.
Perez smothered five shots for the shutout and Scrivanich, freshman defender MOSTAFA IBRAHIM (Cairo, Egypt/Elharam (Cairo, Egypt) and sophomore defender IBRAHIMA BAYO (Newark, NJ/Weequahic) played a full 90 minute in the backfield, limiting the WildCats' opportunities.
NJCU will face a stiff test on Sunday, September 5 in the final game of the tournament as the Knights face host North Carolina Wesleyan—6-1 winners over New Jersey Athletic Conference rival Rutgers-Newark in Saturday's other game. NJCU is 0-4 all-time against NCWC and have been outscored 18-8, including a 5-0 setback last year in the same tournament.
“They're always a good team,” Kalonji said of the host Battling Bishops. “We're going to keep trying to play our game and try to take away their strengths. It's a team we can play against. We have to be more aggressive on 50-50 balls, must play them hard and finish our chances. Today, we had chances in the first half and didn't capitalize on them.”
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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GAME NOTES:
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- NJCU, playing in the state of North Carolina for only the third season (2002, 2009, 2010), is 2-2-1 in the state.
- NJCU met a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAD) for the third time in program history, improving to 2-1. NJCU lost to Randolph-Macon, 3-1, in 1999 and defeated Roanoke, 1-0, in 2006.
- Shutout is 203rd in school history in 833 all-time games
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Team Stat Comparison
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NJCU
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RANDOLPH
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Score
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2
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0
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Halftime
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0
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0
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Shots
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13
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12
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Shots On Goal
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3
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5
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Saves
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5
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1
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Corner Kicks
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2
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3
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Fouls
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13
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8
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Offsides
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3
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2
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Caution Cards
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0
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3
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