PATCHOGUE, N.Y. — Following another dominant performance, the New Jersey City University men's soccer team improved to 3-0 on the young 2021 season. The Gothic Knights, playing on the second day of the SJC Invitational, defeated the host St. Joseph's College-Long Island by a score of 1-0 on Sunday afternoon, September 5. Despite the lone goal, NJCU outshot the Golden Eagles 15-5, including 9-3 in on-goal attempts.
Jersey City (3-0) attempted the only two shots on goal in the first half against St. Joe's (0-1), but was unable to convert. The Knights also earned three corner kick opportunities in the first 45:00 to SJC's one, however they were unable to produce offense off of those either.
The real action began in the second half when, in the 48th minute, sophomore
Gabe Cruz (Colonia, N.J./Colonia) used some nifty dribbling skills to weave his way in and out of defenders and into good position in the box, but was then taken down and the Gothic Knights were awarded a penalty. Fellow second-year Knight
Thiago Duarte (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) was selected to take the shot. The Golden Eagles' keeper guessed correctly as Duarte took aim at the lower left corner of the net, however the NJCU midfielder was able to blow it past the diving netminder's outstretched hands and in off the post to give the Gothic Knights their first and only goal of the day.
From that point forward, NJCU outshot St. Joe's 6-3 in on-target attempts in what was a very physical second half. Overall, the two teams combined for six yellow cards in the final 33 minutes and change of the match, however five of those were called against the Gothic Knights. Fortunately, senior keeper Nicholas Linebaugh managed to stop all three Golden Eagle shot attempts and keep NJCU in the lead throughout.
Highlights:
- Yesterday's hero — sophomore
Maximo Vargas (Montevideo, Uruguay/The British Schools) — led all players in shots (4) and shots on goal (3).
- Duarte attempted two shots on goal.
- Cruz, freshman
Jeff Sanchez (Carteret, N.J./Carteret), sophomore
Jorkaef Fallas (North Bergen, N.J./Hudson Catholic) and senior
Luis Laing (Jersey City, N.J./William L. Dickinson) each attempted one shot on net.
What's Next:
With the weather looking promising for the upcoming week, the Gothic Knights look to finally hit the pitch at Robert L. McNulty Memorial Field on Wednesday afternoon, September 8. NJCU welcomes Sarah Lawrence College to the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff. Watch all the action live on
GothicVision.
