HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com)  | The New Jersey City University men's soccer team stayed perfect in 2019 with yet another impressive victory, this time topping Centenary University by a final score of 4-1 on September 7 at J.E. Reeves Jr. Turf Field. Edric De Paula (Blairstown, NJ/Newark Tech) scored his first NJCU brace within the first 40 minutes and, in the 90th minute, tacked on a third for his first career hat trick in green and gold.

The Gothic Knights now have a +14 goal differential on the year, as their record sits at 5-0-0—their best start to a season since 2016. That 2016 campaign saw the Knights start 7-0-0, with a +18 goal differential to begin the season under Cullen in his first year. Centenary fell to 0-4-0.
 
"Edric has been knocking at the door in every game this year and finally was able to open his 2019 account," head coach Joe Cullen said. 
 
Coming into Saturday's match, the Gothic Knights had scored a dozen goals this season (to just one goal allowed), and while De Paula had started all four games and played 278 minutes, he had yet to find the back of the net. Of course, his impact had still been felt, with a team-leading three assists and 21 shots coming into the game already.
 
"We knew he was going to start scoring at some point but sometimes as a forward it just doesn't happen right away," Cullen explained. "We told him to keep plugging away and working hard and the other things will fall into place. Happy he got the monkey off his back and now can settle in." 
 
NJCU led 3-0 by halftime and it was De Paula who scored the Knights' first (26:26), third (39:44), and fourth (89:35) goals of Saturday's win.
 
De Paula wasn't the only Knight to open his account against the Cyclones on Saturday. Scoring the Knights' second goal of the game in the 32nd minute was sophomore midfielder Orlando Alcantara—the first tally of his collegiate career. The deep-sitting midfielder is often essential to the buildup of their attack, but until Saturday he didn't have an official NJCU tally to his name.
 
"Orlando was able to step up today in a different way by finding the back of the net for us in a critical part of the game," Cullen noted. "Defensively and positionally he has been excellent day-in and day-out, so it's nice to see him step up and get on the stat sheet as well."
 
The goal came from a ball that deflected and rolled out to the top of the 18, with Alcantara stepping through it and hitting it hard into the lower left corner for the 2-0 lead.
 
Senior midfielder Joe Burgos (Hackensack, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep) contributed a pair of assists—his third and fourth of the season—improving his stat line to 12 points in five games. Senior midfielder Koshane Marshall (Montclair, NJ/Montclair) assisted on the opening goal—assist No. 2 this year.   
 
The Cyclones lone goal came when trailing 3-0 in the 71st minute, as senior midfielder Matt Miller put one past Aldahir Cazun (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson), only the second goal the junior goalkeeper and the Knights have allowed all year. Cazun had four saves on the day.  
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: NJCU leads, 4-1 (12-3 goal differential). This was the first matchup since the two teams met in the 2006 ECAC Quarterfinals, which NJCU won 2-0. It was also the first regular season meeting since September 13, 2000 when the Knights prevailed, 3-0, in Hackettstown. 
• Shots: NJCU 22, Centenary 11

 
UP NEXT:

• NJCU looks to stay undefeated as they stay on the road and head to Randall's Island to face off with Pratt Institute (0-1). The game is set to start at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11.

 
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