EWING, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University and The College of New Jersey played more than 75 minutes of scoreless soccer before the host Lions broke through at the 75:14 mark and secured a 2-0 win with an insurance tally five minutes later as the two schools met in a New Jersey Athletic Conference morning game on October 13 at the TCNJ Soccer Complex.
 
TCNJ (7-4-2, 2-3-2 NJAC) had a more than 3:1 margin in shots in the game, outshooting the Gothic Knights (5-8-0, 0-7-0 NJAC) by a 30-9 differential. Despite that margin, NJCU still had a shot to win the game, thanks to the goalkeeping play of sophomore Eric Lopes Silva (Newark, NJ/Newark East Side), who stopped 11 shots for the visitors. It was his second straight outing with double-digit stops and he has 25 saves in those two games.
 
Meanwhile, TCNJ sophomore keeper Daniel Mecadon (Flemington, N.J.) stopped four shots to preserve his third shutout of the season and the fifth for the Lions. TCNJ notched its second straight shutout and has allowed just one goal in its last three games.
 
Scoreless with less than 15 minutes remaining, junior midfielder Michael Maltese (Freehold, N.J.) finally cashed in, netting his first goal of the year from the middle of the box off a low pass from the right side slipped in by freshman Ryan Santos (Warren, N.J.).
 
A double header off a corner kick early in the 81st minute (80:07) sealed the win as senior mid Joerg Jauk (Lassnitzhoehe, Austria) headed home his fourth goal of the season; Maltese and sophomore mid James Pike (Short Hills, N.J.) had assists on the play.
 
Maltese, Santos and senior mid Nick Sample (New Egypt, N.J.) each had four shots in the win and 11 different players registered at least two shots for the winners. Freshman forward Edric De Paula (Newark, NJ/Newark Tech) produced three shots for NJCU (one on goal). Freshman mids Hugo Herrera (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) and Orlando Alcantara had two shots apiece for the Knights. TCNJ did not allow a shot in the final seven minutes of the game.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series record: 63rd meeting; TCNJ leads all-time, 52-7-4, since 1959. TCNJ is 6-0-1 in the last seven meetings since 2012.
• Lopes Silva reached double figures in saves for the third time as a collegian. He had 14 saves on October 6 vs. Rowan.
• NJCU has lost six consecutive games.
• NJCU has been shutout in five consecutive games and has not scored in a stretch of 462:41 over six games (all losses).

 
UP NEXT:

• NJCU plays its final scheduled road game of the season on Wednesday, October 17 when it heads to Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. for a non-conference matchup with York College (NY) at 7 p.m. NJCU beat York, 2-0, in the last meeting on September 17, 2017 in Jersey City, N.J. and owns a 12-1 record in 13 all-time meetings (64-9 goal differential). The Cardinals are 1-12-1 overall with one game between now and Wednesday.

 
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