JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | For the third time this season, the New Jersey City University men's soccer team took a nationally ranked team to the half, scoreless, but was unable to find a positive result in the second half. No. 12/13 ranked Montclair State University scored 2:21 into the second half, then added a pair of goals in a span of 58 seconds to seal it in the middle of the period before claiming a 4-0 win over the Gothic Knights in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game on September 23 at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
 
Montclair, the defending NJAC champions and winners of five of the last nine league titles, improved to 8-1 overall while winning its 2015 NJAC opener (1-0 NJAC), outshooting the Gothic Knights (1-8, 0-2 NJAC, lost 6), 24-7, including 16-4 in the second half.
 
MSU entered the game ranked No. 12 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and #13 by D3soccer.com.
 
Overall, it was the fifth time this year NJCU has gone to halftime scoreless in a game and the Knights have lost all five outings, including twice in overtime.
 
Freshman forward Matt Hendrickson (Sewell, NJ) scored the first two goals for the Red Hawks in the 48th and 65th minutes and freshman forward Rafael Terci (Union, NJ) added a goal and an assist—contributing to both tallies in the 65th and 66th minutes. Junior forward Aaron Rose (Williamstown, NJ) also later scored in the 88th.
 
Montclair went on top at 47:21 as leading scorer and senior midfielder Damian Bziukiewicz (East Rutherford, NJ) played a ball onto the right wing. Hendrickson, who scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season, gave his teammate an assist when he dribbled in and beat NJCU rookie keeper Anthony Moyano (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County Tech) with a vicious shot just inside the near right post.
 
At 64:34, Terci contributed his fifth assist of the season, slipping a ball from the midfield circle onto the 18. Hendrickson ran onto it and with Moyano charging hard, was able to slide a shot under the diving keeper near the penalty mark. Terci put the game away 58 seconds later when he buried a loose ball on the left side of the box that the NJCU defense couldn't clear, netting his fourth goal of the season. Rose capped the win when he settled a ball 30 yards out and curled a fantastic shot into the far left side netting.
 
Moyano made four saves for NJCU under pressure. Montclair freshman Mike Saalfrank (Ramsey, NJ) made three saves to secure MSU's fourth shutout of the season. He had to earn the shutout late, making a great save in the 81st minute on NJCU sophomore Benedict Adundo (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) when he ran onto a breakaway pass inside the six.
 
OF NOTE:

• Montclair leads the all-time series, 48-11-3, and has won the last six meetings.
• Montclair is also ranked No. 2 in the South Atlantic Region.

• NJCU has gone to halftime scoreless five times: 9/4/2015 vs. John Jay, 9/12/15 vs. #1 Christopher Newport, 9/19/15 at NYU, 9/21/15 at #24 Rutgers-Camden and 9/23/15 vs. #12 Montclair State. NJCU has lost all five games.
• The game was delayed 38 minutes in the first half due to an NJCU injury.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU is idle until Wednesday, September 30 at 3 p.m. when it hosts Kean University in an NJAC game. Kean, currently 8-1, leads the all-time series, 35-18-3, and won last year's meeting in Union, NJ (October 1, 2014), 2-1.