New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University and Montclair State University, renewed their long-time New Jersey Athletic Conference men's soccer rivalry, and had a game decided by one goal for the 10^th time since 2000, as Montclair made a 16^th minute tally stand up in a 1-0 victory for the Red Hawks over host NJCU on Saturday at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
 
On a sunny day with fierce winds blowing across the region, the gusts had a notable impact on ball movement and possession, with passes and crosses moving unpredictably.
 
With the win, Montclair wins for the eighth time in nine games and improves to 11-2-2 overall and 4-1-1 in the NJAC. NJCU (3-10-1, 0-5-0 NJAC) suffered its seventh one-goal loss of the season. The Gothic Knights dropped their seventh game in a row and fourth straight by a one-goal margin. Six of NJCU's last seven losses have been by one goal and four of five NJAC defeats have been by that same margin.
 
The seventh one-goal loss is a single-season record for the 53-year-old NJCU program. The most one-goal setbacks had been six, in 1984, 1999 and 2005.
 
The only goal of the game came at the 15:03 mark of the first half. Senior defender Mike Rudden (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) played a ball up the middle of the field that sent senior midfielder Kevin Zalewski (Parsippany, NJ/Parsippany) on a breakaway into the left side of the box. NJCU senior keeper MANNY LOJO (Clark, NJ/Union Catholic) made the initial save, blocking down the point-blank 1-on-1 shot, but Zalewski was able to put away the rebound of his own shot for his seventh marker of the season.
 
Lojo made eight saves in 76:56 of action before freshman DANIEL SEQUEIRA (South River, NJ/South River), a converted goalkeeper, made his collegiate debut in net, stopping one shot in 13:04 of action.
 
MSU junior Anthony Rogic (Boonton, NJ/Morris Catholic) made one save for his fifth shutout of the season. Montclair had a crucial team save by junior midfielder William O'Connor (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) at 32:23, leaping to head a shot by NJCU junior forward NANA KOFI KUSI (Newark, NJ/Kumasi Academy (Ghana) over the crossbar—preventing a likely goal by the Knights into the upper right corner.
 
MSU held a 10-2 margin in shots on goal as the Red Hawks have only allowed 11 goals in 15 games this season. Montclair sophomore midfielder Dan Mendoza (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) had a game high seven shots with four on goal while Zalewski attempted five shots with four on target.
 
Lojo made a pair of terrific saves in the 17^th and 32^nd minutes on shots by Zalewski and Mendoza to keep the deficit at one.
 
NJCU's had two solid second half scoring chances. In the 52^nd minute when junior defender EDUARDO TEJADA (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington) had a shot blocked in the box after a sequence of passes. In the 61^st minute, senior forward WALTER AVANS (Roselle Park, NJ/Union Catholic) had a nice look at the left post before Rogic made his only save of the game.
 
NJCU will be home for a non-conference game on Monday, October 17 against Lehman College at 4 p.m. MSU hosts #19 ranked Muhlenberg College on October 19.