Photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
Ramapo College’s men’s soccer team managed to claim a victory for the most important game of the season thus far; a 3-0 shutout over previously undefeated New Jersey City University (NJCU) in the 2019 New Jersey Athletic Conference opener last Saturday, Sept. 21.
The Senior Roadrunner forward Joseph Fala would make the first strike of the game against NJCU, following his fourth goal of the regular season as he capitalized on a penalty kick about the thirty-minute mark. The 1-0 kept strong against New Jersey City until halftime.
For the first half, Ramapo lead in shots. Junior goalie Joshua Shaffer made one save in the net for Ramapo’s defense, whereas Gothic Knights’ Aldahir Cazun made eight saves.
The second half promised to be more thrilling with Ramapo freshman midfielder Raul Macedo scoring his first goal of the season and of his collegiate career. This goal, off an assist from senior midfielder Ariton Mimini at 59:14, marks Mimini’s third assist of the season.
Senior midfielder Bashkim Saiti scored for the Roadrunners at 65:32, his fourth of the season and the first of the conference assisted by senior defender Justin Charkowski, his third assist of the season. This would be the last goal of the game, the final score being a 3-0 shutout win.
Ramapo once again led in shots in the second half. Joshua Shaffer managed another save in the second half, and Gothic Knights’ goalie Aldahir Cazun made five saves against Ramapo. Shaffer faced eight shots total in this game against NJCU, making it a season high for him.
The Ramapo’s men’s soccer team were rewarded ten corners during this game against New Jersey City University. The Gothic Knights earned four corner kicks of their own.
With this victory, Ramapo College’s team broke New Jersey City University’s nine game win streak. NJCU is no longer undefeated as they now fall to 9-1-0 overall. The Gothic Knights’ NJAC overall holds 0-1-0, opposite to the Roadrunners.
This win improves Ramapo to 4-0-3 overall and 1-0-0 for the conference. The team will be traveling to Western Connecticut State University for a 4 p.m. start this Wednesday. This will be a regular season game.
After this, the Roadrunners will be on the Athletic Center Turf as they face The College of New Jersey for their second NJAC tournament game. The home game will start at 1 p.m. against the 7-2 team.
ddeange1@ramapo.edu
