STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sophomore midfielder Jose Salazar (Medellin, Colombia/Union City) buried a shot in the 72nd minute and the New Jersey City University men's soccer team did not allow a shot on goal while posting its second consecutive 1-0 clean sheet to open the season as the Gothic Knights blanked St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) on September 2 in round two of the CSI Soccer Fall Classic.
 
With the win combined with Wisconsin-Platteville's 2-0 win over host Staten Island, NJCU (2-0) captured the championship of the CSI Soccer Fall Classic for the second consecutive year under second-year head coach Joe Cullen. The Knights have not yielded a goal in the tournament the last two seasons, outscoring opponents 11-0.
 
NJCU outshot the Bears (0-1), 16-7, but the Gothic Knight defensive unit of senior center back Luis Cruz (Princeton, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro South), junior outside back Edwin Carbajal (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) and freshmen backs Mike Almeida (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) and Walter Salmeron (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) did not allow a shot on frame to compliment freshman goalkeeper Eric Lopes Silva (Newark, NJ/Newark East Side).
 
Scoreless at halftime despite an 8-4 edge in shots for NJCU and still 0-0 with less than 20 minutes left, Salazar, who produced five assists in his freshman campaign but didn't score, chalked up his first career goal. At 71:40, Salazar dribbled around a defender and hit a hard, low shot from the center of the field that SJCBK keeper Alejandro Oliveros got a piece of but not enough to deny NJCU. Oliveros (1 save) had just entered the game 68 seconds earlier in place of starter Julian Rodriguez, who made five saves in 70:32.
 
SJCBK only had three shots in the second half and only one after NJCU scored—an attempt blocked in the final minute of the game.
 
QUOTABLE KNIGHTS:
 
Head Coach Joe Cullen: "I thought the guys did well to finish out the weekend with the results we were hoping for. We struggled to be cleaner and put the game away today. We wasted opportunities and made our lives harder than it needed to be. That being said, we stayed the course and managed to get two positive results in less than 24 hours which I'm happy about. There is a lot to work on and fix after seeing this weekend. The good news is with the injuries we took on and a young, new squad we still fought for the two wins. We need to take the weekend for what it was, use the days off to rest and prepare, and do our best to keep moving forward."
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: NJCU leads, 2-0.
• Joe Cullen, the 13th head coach in the 59-year history of the program, becomes the first head coach in school history to begin a career with two straight shutouts in consecutive seasons.

 
UP NEXT:

• NJCU is idle for a week until it plays its home opener at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field on Saturday, September 9 (2 p.m.) against Medgar Evers College. NJCU leads the all-time series, 11-1, outscoring MEC, 66-9. It will be the first meeting between the schools since September 4, 2011 in the consolation game of the Drew Fall Classic in Madison, N.J. NJCU won that game, 12-1. It will also be the first home meeting since September 3, 2008—a 7-1 win.

 
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