Photo by Jessica Musinski
The men’s soccer team looked to remain undefeated when they took the field for their second NJAC game of the year against Stockton, and it was the Roadrunners’ first home game against an NJAC team this year. The NJAC matchup ended in a 1-1 tie.
Ramapo’s 13th-year Head Coach DJ Pinton said that he expects every game against teams within the NJAC to be close games.
“I expect every NJAC game to be tight no matter what,” said Pinton. “It’s a very good league from top to bottom, so you personally expect it to be tight because Stockton’s going to give a lot.”
There was no scoring in the game until the second half as both teams were held scoreless in the first half despite the Roadrunners outshooting the Ospreys of Stockton 8-4 in the first half. Justin Olaya, a third-year forward for the Roadrunners scored one of the only two goals scored in the entire game in the 52nd minute with the assist by second-year midfielder Jorge Castro. The play resulted in Olaya’s second goal of the 2016 season, and the only goal that the Roadrunners would score for the entire game.
The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Roadrunners until the 89th minute of the game when Dan Marino, a second year midfielder, scored the first goal of his collegiate career in the remaining 42 seconds of regulation. Alex Kourahanis, a third-year forward, provided the assist. With the score 1-1 at the end of regulation, the game was sent into overtime.
Lastly, the two teams remained scoreless in the two overtime periods to make the result a 1-1 draw. The Roadrunners outshot the Ospreys, 20-15, and the Roadrunners had the advantage in shots on goal, 10-8. Ryan Sprague, third-year goalkeeper and first-year captain, attained seven saves in goal while his Stockton counterpart, rookie goalkeeper, Michael Lescano attained nine saves.
Olaya said his goal was a result of a reaction.
“Jorge put it near post, and I just reacted to it,” said Olaya. “I was trying to flick it for the next person ahead of him, but I had it over the goalie’s head.”
Castro felt that the Roadrunners’ defense played pretty well for the whole game.
“I think defensively we were good all game; we had one mistake, and it led to their goal,” said Castro.
Senior captain Kevin Monaghan said that the Roadrunners must stay together as a unit in order to make the NJAC playoffs.
“We have to keep it together, come out every day, work as hard as we’ve been doing, and stay together as a team,” said Monaghan.
The Roadrunners suffered their first loss of the season last night, losing to William Paterson 2-0, but they will try to get back in the win column this Saturday at the Athletic Center Turf when they take on Rutgers-Camden at 1:00 p.m.
pmcguire@ramapo.edu
