NEWARK, N.J. — Despite playing evenly for most of the night with Rutgers-Newark, the New Jersey City University men's soccer team was unable to notch a talley and fell to the Scarlet Raiders on Wednesday, Sept. 29, in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) road action.

NJCU (7-2-1, 0-2-0 NJAC) found itself down 1-0 early to Rutgers-Newark (5-4-1, 1-1-1 NJAC) as the home team scored the first and only goal of the game halfway through the fourth minute on the first shot of the night. From that point forward, however, senior keeper Nick Linebaugh (Linden, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep) was a brick wall, stopping the final eight shot-on-goal attempts by the Scarlet Raiders on the night.

Unfortunately, the Gothic Knights were only able to muster five shots on goal themselves throughout the duration of the match, and they were unable to convert on any. The first came in the eighth minute off the foot of sophomore forward Maximo Vargas (Montevideo, Uruguay/The British Schools), followed in the 13th by an attempt from junior back Christopher Castillo (North Bergen, N.J./High Tech). NJCU came close to tying it on the rebound of Castillo's shot as Vargas had an opportunity with the Rutgers-Newark keeper out of position — however the Scarlet Raiders defense was in position and made the team save to keep it 1-0 in their favor.

After making six total stops in the first half, Linebaugh only had to save two more in the second, as did the Rutgers-Newark keeper, as neither squad managed more than a couple chances in the latter 45 minutes. Vargas finished the night with team highs in total shots (3) and shots on goal (2), while Linebaugh's eight saves ties the second-highest total of his career, and was his second straight eight-save performance.

What's Next:
Following a couple days off, NJCU returns to the pitch once again on the road for some more NJAC action. The Gothic Knights head down to Glassboro, N.J., to face Rowan University on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 2, at 1:00 p.m.