MONTCLAIR, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University's men's soccer team hung tight with perennial New Jersey Athletic Conference powerhouse Montclair State University for nearly 88 minutes before the Red Hawks added an insurance tally to a sixth minute marker and knocked off NJCU, 2-0, in the 2014 NJAC opener for both schools at the MSU Soccer Park.
 
Montclair, which uncharacteristically entered the game unranked, still received 55 points in the latest D3soccer.com Top 25 national poll, equivalent to a No. 27 national listing after a No. 18 ranking last week. MSU, which also received two votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division III South Atlantic Poll, improved to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the NJAC. It was the first time since 2011 the Gothic Knights faced Montclair as an unranked opponent.
 
NJCU (1-6-3, 0-1 NJAC), was shutout for the second straight game and held scoreless for the fifth time this year. NJCU was outshot by Montclair, 25-12, including 16-7 in the second half.
 In defeat, junior converted goalkeeper Tyler Krychkowski (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington) reached double figures in stops for the second time this season, setting aside 10 shots. Montclair's Christopher Martinez made three saves in recording the Red Hawks' fourth shutout of the season.
 
Junior All-NJAC midfielder Aboubacar Diawara (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) attempted a game-high seven shots for NJCU while sophomore midfielder Davauni Brown (Newark, NJ/Newark Tech) was responsible for three of the other five Gothic Knight opportunities.
 
Montclair, coming off a 3-1 loss to defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Messiah College on September 20, got the only goal it needed at the 5:56 mark when Maxx Wurzburger slipped his second goal of the year under a diving Krychkowski from the top of the box off an assist from Brian Cullen.
 
With NJCU pressing late looking for the equalizer, Montclair countered with a second goal with 2:23 remaining in the contest as Kyle Goodwin's cross from the left onto the feet of Jake Seaman was finished into the right side of the target for his second tally of the season.
 
Goodwin had six shots for the hosts with five attempts on goal. Seaman put both of his shots on net and Cullen was on target in two of his three chances.
 
Despite the defeat to a tough opponent, third-year head coach Patrick Snyder said: "I'm extremely proud of the effort the boys put in today. This might have been the best 90 minutes we're played so far and it was against the best team we've played yet."
 
A tough schedule gets even more challenging on Saturday, September 27 at 1 p.m. when NJCU plays its first home NJAC game of the season as three-time defending conference champion Rutgers University-Camden, the 2013 Division III national runner-up, visits the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.