JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The New Jersey City University men's soccer team fell behind in today's tough match-up against Montclair State University. This was the first New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) game of the season – the 3-0 loss took place at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 25.

The Gothic Knights (7-1-1, 0-1 NJAC) looked to upset the Red Hawks (7-1-1, 1-0 NJAC) after a history of falling short. Play kicked off with a few exchanged fouls, followed by three saves by Gothic Knight senior goalkeeper Nick Linebaugh (Linden, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep). Linebaugh had a total of nine saves throughout today's game. In the 16th minute, MSU's Amer Lukovic scored the first goal for the Red Hawks.

In the final minutes of the first half, Red Hawks' Reed Karsen escaped Jersey City's defense and scored the second goal of the game. NJCU rookies Jaime Bimboza (Jersey City, N.J./William L. Dickinson) and Jean Cueva (Guayaquil, Ecuador/Colegio ANAI), along with sophomores Maximo Vargas (Montevideo, Uruguay/The British Schools) and Gabe Cruz (Colonia, N.J./Colonia) all took shots on goal but were unsuccessful.

Jersey City sophomore Jorkaef Fallas (North Bergen, N.J./Hudson Catholic) took the first shot on goal during the second half, but it was saved by the Red Hawks goalkeeper. Intensity began to boil as NJCU senior captain Nelson Segovia (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) was given a yellow card. Vargas had a shot on goal before the second yellow card was given to NJCU freshman Jeremy Jordan (Guayaquil, Ecuador/ANAVI) at the 61:00 mark. After Linebaugh saved multiple shot attempts from the MSU strikers, sophomore Thiago Duarte (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) responded with his own shot on the Red Hawks' goal.

The green squad struggled to make a comeback, especially after a penalty kick was awarded to MSU in the 86th minute, resulting in the third and final goal. Gothic Knight freshman Jeff Sanchez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) took the final shot of the game, just missing high.

UP NEXT:
NJCU will travel to Newark for the next NJAC match-up against Rutgers-Newark University on Wednesday, September 29, at 7:30 p.m.