JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University men's soccer team closed out regular-season play on Thursday, Nov. 3, with the squad's second-straight 7-0 victory at home on Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex, topping York College (N.Y.) this afternoon.
A much more even affair today as opposed to yesterday, NJCU (10-5-2) outshot the Cardinals (2-9-1) 16-7 in shots on goal, while CCNY did not manage to land a ball on net on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Both teams had their chances today in the early going, but it was star striker junior
Maximo Vargas (Montevideo, Uruguay/The British Schools) that got things started in the 22nd. Sophomore midfielder
Lucca Cordone (Manantiales, Uruguay/IUA Punta del Este) found himself wide open in the offensive zone, launched a beautiful through ball to Vargas inside the box, who proceeded to make a couple of nice moves and score in the lower left to make it 1-0.
Then, a day after tallying two goals in the win over the Beavers, senior forward
Ryan Evande (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) struck once again to make it 2-0 in the 25th. This time Vargas handled the ball in the offensive zone before sending a soft pass out left to Evande, who found the upper right corner for the goal. Freshman midfielder
Kevin Alves (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) scored his second goal of the season next in the 37th to close out the half with NJCU up 3-0. Freshman back
Judeson Cajuste (Elizabeth, N.J./Dwyer Tech) possessed the ball at midfield, launched a pass all the way to the front left of the goal and Alves found the ball on his foot with a wide open net to score.
NJCU wasted no time extending the lead early in the second, scoring twice in the first two minutes. Vargas struck first with his team-leading 11th of the season in the 46th, thanks to a nice pass from senior back
Piero Urteaga (Clifton, N.J./Passaic County Tech). All Vargas needed to do was slightly deflect the ball in front to alter the direction for the score, making it 4-0. Moments later, Vargas sent a through ball ahead for junior midfielder
Jorkaef Fallas (North Bergen, N.J./Hudson Catholic) in the 47th, and the latter snuck a shot in off the post to make it 5-0.
Later on in the 62nd, junior forward
Pau Torrebella (Palma de Mallorca, Spain/Banks) followed up his first-career NCAA goal yesterday with his first of two on the day to make it 6-0. A clearing attempt gone wrong for the Cardinals was stolen away and Torrebella did the rest of the work, dribbling through the York defense before sending it over the keeper's extended hands. Finally, in the 80th, junior back
Eriksson Bryant (North Bergen, N.J./Hudson Catholic) sent a long cross from just past midfield to Torrebella on the left side of the net. Torrebella had two chances and eventually snuck the second inside the post to make it 7-0.
In net for the Gothic Knights, senior keeper
Nick Linebaugh (Linden, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep) registered the start and stopped four shots over the first 45 minutes, fulfilling his duties as part of the shutout. Then, freshman
Isaac Atehortua (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) played the full second half for the second straight match and stopped three more to complete the combined shutout for NJCU. Linebaugh drops his goal against average to 0.78/game and raises his save percentage to .868, both of which are second in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC).
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights now await their fate for the 2022 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Men's Soccer Championship Tournament, which takes place over two weekends from Nov. 12-13 and 19-20. The selection of the ECAC field will happen on Monday, Nov. 7, following the release of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship bracket.
