New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES
SENIOR DAY PHOTO GALLERY
POST-GAME GOTHIC KNIGHT INSIGHTS (interview)
HIGHLIGHT VIDEO

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University and The College of New Jersey have been rivals in men's soccer since 1959. But never in the long history of the series has NJCU scored as often as it did on Senior Day 2011. Senior forward WALTER AVANS (Roselle Park, NJ/Union Catholic) moved into second place in school history in total goals and third in career points by netting the 36^th, 37^th and 38^th goals of his career to give the Gothic Knights a 3-0 lead and NJCU won its first New Jersey Athletic Conference men's soccer game of the season with a 5-1 rout of TCNJ at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field. NJCU scored four times in the second half to build up a 1-0 halftime lead.
 
NJCU wins its second straight game, improving to 5-10-1 and 1-5-0 in the NJAC; TCNJ fell to 5-7-4 (0-5-2 NJAC). TCNJ leads the all-time series, 46-7-3. NJCU had a 21-16 margin in shots.
 
In the 56^th meeting between the schools, the Knights set a record for most goals in a game against the Lions. The previous standard was achieved 50 years ago, in a 4-1 win on October 17, 1961, in the third meeting in the series.
 
Avans notched his ninth career multiple-goal, fifth career hat trick, and second three-plus goal game this season. In the last three meetings with TCNJ, Avans has bagged five goals and 11 points. He now has 11 goals and 27 points on the season.
 
With the six-point, three-goal effort, Avans eclipsed Hall-of-Famer Ken Holzschuh for second place on the all-time goals list with 38; Holzschuh had 37 goals from 1968-71. Avans also passed Adrian Ruiz (31 goals, 24 assists, 86 points, 2001-04) for third place on the all-time points chart.
 
Junior center midfielder GABRIEL AVANS (Roselle Park, NJ/Union Catholic) and junior defender EDUARDO TEJADA (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington) each struck for single goals. GABRIEL AVANS, who netted his third goal of the season, also contributed his second assist; the marker was the first for Tejada since November 15, 2008.
 
Senior midfielder TOM KRYCHKOWSKI (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington) collected his fourth assist of the season. Junior forward NANA KOFI KUSI (Newark, NJ/Kumasi Academy (Ghana) and junior forward AMANFO ASSIBU (Bronx, NY/Sheepshead Bay) each earned their first assists of the year. WALTER AVANS had six shots, with five on goal while Assibu attempted a game-high eight shots, with two on target.
 
Rookie goalkeeper DANIEL SEQUEIRA (South River, NJ/South River), in his first career start against an NJAC opponent—and second overall—made four saves, including a pair of brilliant stops. TCNJ junior Aaron Utman (Hopewell, NJ/Hopewell Valley) stopped seven shots under heavy pressure.
 
NJCU got a solid defensive effort from freshman EDWIN UMANZOR (Linden, NJ/Linden) and seniors HENRY GUADALUPE (Prospect Park, NJ/Manchester Regional) and LIONEL EMABAT (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson).
 
TCNJ's lone goal came in the 85^th minute, trailing 4-0, when sophomore midfielder Sean Casey (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) took a shot from 30 yards off a pass from junior midfielder Kevin Shaw (Brookside, NJ/West Morris Mendham), that caromed off the underside of the crossbar, over a leaping Sequeira and trickled past the line, It was his second goal of the season and the first Sequeira allowed in the first 175 minutes of career action in net.
 
NJCU was very aggressive offensive, particularly with its ground ball control, with its midfielders finding open space and passes for its forwards, and NJCU capitalized just 5:53 into the first half. Kofi Kusi slipped a thru ball onto the left side of the box and WALTER AVANS uncorked a shot past the charging TCNJ keeper for a 1-0 lead. It was the only goal of a first half in which the Lions held a 9-7 edge in shots.
 
But NJCU dominated the second half offensive, outshooting the visitors, 14-7, and needed just 25 seconds after the opening kick to build a 2-0 lead. Assibu slipped a thru ball onto the left side of the box where WALTER AVANS fooled Utman off his line and tucked a shot into the open net in a 1-on-1 at 45:25.
 
Late in the 72^nd minute, WALTER AVANS capped his senior day celebration with a little help from his younger brother. At 71:51 the Avans brothers teamed up on a goal for the seventh time in three seasons (fourth time with Walter scoring). GABRIEL AVANS slipped a thru ball from the middle of the field, a few strides in front of the circle, into the middle of the box to his brother and WALTER AVANS needed a perfect shot to beat Utman, who made a valiant airborne effort diving towards the left post, as NJCU built a 3-0 lead at 71:51.
 
NJCU increased the margin to 4-0 at 79:59 as Krychkowski dribbled along the far right wing, moved along the endline and centered a cross into the box where GABRIEL AVANS one-timed home a goal.
 
 
Sequeira's best save came in the 66^th minute when he deflected a tough shot by TCNJ senior forward Chris Pisano (Metuchen, NJ/Metuchen) over the crossbar and out of harm's way, with NJCU leading  by two at that juncture.
 
Prior to the game, NJCU honored its six-man senior class of 2011—WALTER AVANS, forward ALEX CERON (Belleville, NJ/Belleville), Emabat, Guadalupe, Krychkowski and goalkeeper MANNY LOJO (Clark, NJ/Union Catholic).
 
NJCU will play its home game of the season, a makeup contest against NJAC foe Ramapo College on Monday, October 24 at 1 p.m. TCNJ closes the season on Wednesday, October 26 against archrival Rowan University at 7 p.m. in Glassboro, NJ.