New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

MONTCLAIR, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Nationally No. 8 ranked Montclair State University snapped a scoreless game early in the 77^th minute and captured the NJAC regular season championship as the Red Hawks held off the New Jersey City University men's soccer team, 1-0, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference night game on October 13 at the MSU Soccer Park.
 
All six losses for NJCU (10-6, 2-4 NJAC) this season have been one-goal setbacks and the last 10 losses for the Gothic Knights have been decided by one goal since October 8, 2011.
 
Montclair State, the #1 ranked team in the NCAA/NSCAA South Atlantic Region, and the No. 8 ranked team in the nation in both the D3soccer.com and National Soccer Coaches Association of America national poll, extended its winning streak to eight straight while improving to 14-1 and 7-1 in the NJAC. MSU's regular season title is its first since winning in consecutive years in 2008 and 2009.
 
Montclair, which also won last year's meeting between the long-time rivals by a 1-0 result, leads the all-time series, 45-11-3. MSU, which outshot NJCU, 20-14, has won the last three meetings between the schools. MSU had an 11-6 edge in shots in a scoreless first half.

In a game between two of the nation's top scoring offenses and the NJAC's two high scoring clubs, Montclair, the fourth-ranked scoring team in Division III at 3.69 goals per game was limited to one goal for only the third time this season. NJCU entered the week as the #21 scoring team in the country (3.00 goals per game).
  
In defeat, NJCU junior goalkeeper SHELDON PARKINSON (New Rochelle, NY/Herbert H. Lehman (Bronx, NY) made eight saves.
 
Montclair sophomore goalkeeper Kevin Lynch (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) made seven saves as the Red Hawks recorded their seventh shutout of the season. MSU has outscored opponents 50-12 in 15 games. Montclair has recorded back-to-back shutouts and owns a scoreless minutes streak of 214:57.
 
On its 18^th shot of the game Montclair got on the board as junior midfielder Dan Mendoza (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) made a long pass upfield from 50 yards sending freshman forward Almir Batista (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) on a breakaway, before slipping a shot through Parkinson's legs in an attempt to block the shot, for his 11^th goal of the season at the 76:07 mark. The assist was Mendoza's fifth of the season.
 
A late push by the Knights saw them bring the entire backline forward, with the 6-foot-5 Parkinson coming up for a header that missed high with 37 seconds left and junior center defender MOHAMED CONTEH (Trenton, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro North)'s final shot with three seconds remaining saved by Lynch.
 
NJCU will seek to snap its two-game losing streak when it plays its final non-conference game of the regular season on Monday, October 15 at 6 p.m. when it visits Baruch College in Maspeth, NY.