New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Inside-the-Athlete feature, EDWIN UMANZOR
EDWIN UMANZOR GOAL: Sportscenter Top 10 Nominee

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Five different New Jersey City University men's soccer players scored, led by junior defender EDWIN UMANZOR (Linden, NJ/Linden) and junior forward MANNY MARTIS (Union, NJ/Union) who each had a goal and an assist as the Gothic Knights jumped out to a 5-0 lead and defeated City College of New York, 5-3, in a non-conference game on September 4 at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
 
NJCU (2-1), playing its 2013 home opener, led 3-0 at halftime after scoring twice in the 16^th minute and once more in the 28^th. Goals in the 54^th and 72^nd minutes put the game out of reach. NJCU outshot CCNY, 26-12. In all, 27 different Gothic Knights saw time, including every available field players.
 
CCNY (0-2) scored all three of its goals against NJCU's second and third-teamers in the final six minutes of the game to break up the shutout, including twice on penalty kicks.
 
Sophomore midfielder ABOUBACAR DIAWARA (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne), midfielder/forward MARCO AVELLA (Union, NJ/Union) and junior transfer forward BRYAN PINO (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) each tallied goals for NJCU.
 
Junior midfielder KELVIN FLORES (Hightstown, NJ/Hightstown) and junior transfer forward ANDY CABAN (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional) each contributed assists.
 
Rookie goalkeeper NICK NARDONE (North Arlington, NJ/Queen of Peace) made four saves in an aggressive effort in net. Freshman defender SANTIAGO LOPEZ-CORREA (North Bergen, NJ/Belleville) made a great defensive play for a team save in the 63^rd minute.
 
CCNY scored its first three goals of the season in a span of 4:16, including two penalty kicks within 1:52 of each other in the 85^th and 87^th minutes by sophomore midfielder Gregory Betty and senior forward Alin Sandru before junior midfielder Bertrand Oubida netted a standard action goal off an assist from junior forward Matthew Mbamelu. Freshman goalie Maxwell Berkow made six saves in 62:33. Freshman Mingoro Fanny had one stop in 27:27.
 
"We're happy with the result; a win is always good," said second-year head coach Patrick Snyder. "We felt as a team giving up three goals late is disappointing. We set a goal of no shots on goal, let alone not giving up any goals today. We obviously didn't achieve that. But offensively we're still who we think we are and we have to continue to work to improve our defensive effort and need to work on closing out victories. That's what championship level teams do."
 
NJCU got on the board at the 15:13 mark as Diawara netted his third goal of the season, running to the far left post and slipping a cross on the ground from Flores, after he received a pass from Martis on the sideline. The assist was Flores' first point as a Gothic Knight. Just 41 seconds later after a foul in the box from behind, Avella netted his second goal of the season on a penalty kick into the right side of the net.
 
At 27:09, Umanzor netted an incredible unassisted goal on a difficult angle, curling a shot from outside the left side of the box, over a leaping keeper into the upper right corner. After never scoring a goal in his first two seasons, he collected a marker in back-to-back games.
 
In the second half, Martis bagged his second goal of the year, stealing a ball from a CCNY player at midfield before sending a long chip over the head of the Beaver goalie who was playing well out of the box.
 
NJCU made it 5-0 at 71:23. Umanzor pushed a long free kick into the box where Caban headed the ball to the right post, allowing Pino to poke home his first goal as a Gothic Knight.
 
After penalty kicks at 84:32 and 86:24, Oubida snuck a shot off the gloved fingers of Nardone at 88:48.
 
NJCU is back in action on Saturday and Sunday, September 7 and 8 in Baltimore, Md. when it participates in the JHU-Goucher Tournament. On Saturday, the Knights face perennial power Johns Hopkins University at 5 p.m.