STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sophomore forward Omar Ventura (Fairview, N.J./Cliffside Park) scored twice and the New Jersey City University defense continues to impress, notching its third consecutive shutout to open a season for the first time in the 58-year history of the program as the Gothic Knights blew past Yeshiva University, 6-0, in the second round of the CSI Soccer Fall Classic on September 4 at the College of Staten Island. It was the 200th shutout victory in school history.
 
NJCU (3-0-0), which defeated Purchase College, 3-0 on Saturday, was declared winners of the tournament based on goal differential with Staten Island, which also went 2-0 in the event. Yeshiva fell to 0-2-0.
 
NJCU has outscored opponents 11-0 in three games while allowing just 11 shots on goal. Freshman goalkeeper Adam Cassidy (Jersey City, N.J./County Prep) made five saves to register his third straight shutout to open his collegiate career while extending NJCU's shutout minutes streak to 279:34 dating to the end of 2015.
 
Senior midfielder Davauni Brown (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) chalked up a goal and two assists as five different Gothic Knights scored in the game. NJCU led 2-0 and  outshot Yeshiva, 21-11.
 
Ventura scored his third and fourth goals of the season—the second and sixth tallies in the game—and a pair of defenders who have been instrumental in the three shutouts also were part of the first half scoring. Senior back Gabriel Freitas (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) netted what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 25th minute—the first tally of his college career.            
 
Meanwhile junior back Luis Cruz (Princeton, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro South), who did not score in his first two collegiate seasons as a midfielder and forward, notched his first NCAA goal in the 57th minute. Freshman forward Erick Nascimento (Miami, Fla./Alonzo Tracy Mourning), the starting setter on the NJCU men's volleyball team, scored in the 79th minute for the first goal of his two-sport collegiate career.
 
Senior midfielder Kevin Cavalcanti (Teaneck, N.J./Paramus Catholic) and freshman midfielder Jose Salazar (Jersey City, N.J./Union City) each contributed their first assist of the season.
 
Yeshiva goalkeeper Max Goldstein stopped five shots under pressure.
 
How It Happened:

Freitas scored at 24:45 of the first half when his free kick from 40 yards with the wind at his back beat the opposing keeper high. Less than four minutes later, NJCU struck again as Brown slipped a through ball to Ventura around the keeper for an open-goal tap in and a 2-0 lead at 28:07. NJCU outshot Yeshiva 13-3 in the first half and led, 2-0.
 
In the second half, Salazar's free kick to the back post was headed across the goal to the far post by Cruz for a 3-0 lead.
 
The Knights added two goals in a span of 3:22, scoring in the 76th and 79th minutes. Brown's hard-driven shot under the keeper off Cavalcanti's through ball onto the right side made it 4-0. Later, Brown took a low free kick from 25 yards out, finding Nascimento who slipped a shot through the keeper's legs. With 56 seconds left in the game, Ventura dribbled to the middle of the field and struck a low shot from 30 yards out off the post and in.
 
#QUOTABLEKNIGHTS:
Head Coach Joe Cullen on the third straight shutout win: "It's encouraging to see the group work hard through three games in four days with three wins and three clean sheets. We had the opportunity to get a lot of guys on the field to gain some game experience. We got through the weekend with the results we wanted and are now just focusing on preparing for Wednesday night."
 
OF NOTE:

• First-ever meeting with Yeshiva.
• NJCU is 3-0-0 to start a season for the first time since opening the 2004 season at 3-0-0. NJCU last opened a season with a better record in 2001 when it won its first five games and 12 of its first 13.
• NJCU recorded a third straight shutout for the first time since registering five consecutive shutouts from October 8 to October 22, 2007.
• NJCU posted its 217th shutout in school history. NJCU is 200-0-17 all-time when the opponent doesn't score.

WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU seeks a 4-0-0 start to the season on Wednesday, September 7 at 5 p.m. when it meets Lehman College in the Bronx, N.Y. It will be the first meeting since October 1, 2012 (2-1 win). NJCU leads the all-time series, 10-3-3 (51-20 goals differential), and has won the last five meetings.