WAYNE, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Junior midfielder Ron Jones (Montclair, NJ/Montclair)' third goal of the season in the 48th minute cut a 2-0 halftime deficit in half but the Gothic Knights could not find the equalizer in what was a one-goal game for more than 34 minutes and William Paterson University added an 82nd insurance goal to defeat the New Jersey City University men's soccer team, 3-1, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game on September 30 at Pioneer Soccer Park.
 
Each team netted a penalty kick in the game as William Paterson improved to 9-2 overall (3-1 NJAC), dropping NJCU to .500 on the season (4-4-2, 0-3-1 NJAC) in the 60th meeting since 1959 between the programs.
 
The Pioneers outshot the Knights, 18-9, primarily in the first half when they held a 12-3 margin. Each team had six shots in the second half. Freshman goalkeeper Eric Lopes Silva (Newark, NJ/Newark East Side) made five first-half saves for NJCU before being relieved in the second half by freshman Aldahir Cazun (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson), the team's No. 2 goalkeeper, who stopped one shot. Senior keeper Tim Morris (Stony Point, N.Y.) collected four stops in a full 90 minutes.
 
The hosts went ahead exactly 22 minutes into the game when senior midfielder JP Gonzales (Paterson, N.J.) scored his second of the season on a penalty kick into the top left corner and WP led 2-0 at halftime after an early 35th minute strike from sophomore forward Kyle Adams (Bordentown, N.J.) who scored on a loose ball in the box—his fourth goal of the season—with sophomore mid Dromo Quaye (North Plainfield, N.J.) contributing an assist. WP earlier had a potential goal waived off in the 27th minute on an offsides call.
 
Jones capitalized on his opportunity at the 47:47 mark, scoring on the PK to cut the lead in half. NJCU could only produce two shots over the next 34 minutes and it remained 2-1 until late in the 82nd minute when sophomore midfielder Cameron Allen (Old Bridge, N.J.) notched his seventh goal of the season—third most in the NJAC at the end of the season's first month—with 8:12 remaining. Junior forward Brandon Harley (Pennsauken, N.J.) assisted on the separation goal, sending a ball from midfield to Allen who touched it past a charging Cazun.
 
Gonzales, Adams and Allen each had four shots for the Pioneers with Allen putting three attempts on target. Sophomore center mid Jose Salazar (Medellin, Colombia/Union City) had three attempts and was the lone visiting player with more than one shot.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: 60th meeting. William Paterson leads all-time series, 36-20-4.
• It was the second straight 3-1 road loss for NJCU (September 27 at Rutgers-Newark).

 
UP NEXT:

• NJCU plays its third straight road game on Tuesday, October 3 at 8 p.m. when it faces New York University (5-2-1, 4-0-1 home) under the lights at Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y. In what has become a great non-conference rivalry with NYU, the schools are playing for the sixth consecutive year since renewing the rivalry in 2012. The last seven meetings between the schools have all been decided by one goal or less and three of the last four have reached overtime. After NYU won the last two meetings, 1-0, in 2014 and 2015, the 2016 meeting in Jersey City (September 21, 2016) resulted in a 3-3 draw after double overtime. Overall, it will be the 12th meeting between the programs; NYU leads all-time, 7-2-2.

 
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