Photo courtsey of Ramapo Athletics
The Ramapo College men’s soccer team fell to Stockton University, 4-0, in an NJAC game this past Saturday, Oct. 5. Recording their first loss of the season, the Roadrunners now stand at 7-1-4 overall and 2-1-1 in the conference.
The first half of the game really put the Roadrunner defense to work. The Ospreys were able to steal the first goal of the game, getting on the board in the 7th minute (6:52). RCNJ was able to sneak in two shots in the minutes following, one wide right and the other saved by the Stockton goalkeeper, until Stockton recorded their second goal at 14:04.
After this, Ramapo lost their momentum. Unfortunately, the team gave up two more goals in the next ten minutes. With the clock reading 24:16, RCNJ was down 4-0 and needed to regroup their defense in order to hold the deficit at four. The remainder of the half showed little to no action from both sides, and no more goals were scored by either team. At halftime, the score stood at 4-0.
The Roadrunners were outshot by the Ospreys in the first half, 8-3.
Proceeding halftime, Ramapo returned to the pitch with momentum running high and hungry for some goals. They continuously ripped shots and tried their best to keep the ball in Stockton’s box. In fact, RCNJ was rewarded eight corner kicks in the second half alone.
Despite visible hard work and aggression, the second half remained scoreless, which meant that the Ramapo men's soccer team were handed their first loss of the season.
For the second half, the Roadrunners recorded six shots while the Ospreys posted three.
Stockton only held a two shot advantage over Ramapo for the game, 11-9. However, Stockton collected ten on goal while Ramapo tallied only one.
For the game, Ramapo received a total of nine corner kicks to Stockton’s four. Due to a high intensity match, fouls on both sides reached double digits. RCNJ with 12 and SU with 17.
Junior goalkeeper Joshua Schaffer had an action packed 90 minutes in the net. He tallied six saves for the game.
Senior captain Joseph Fala worked hard for the offense and put out three shots in the second half. Senior Bashkim Saiti collected two shots, one of which was the only shot on goal for the team. Freshman Raul Macedo also tallied two shots, followed by senior captain Justin Charkowski and senior Ariton Mimini, each with one apiece.
One loss is not desirable, but also not the end of the world. The Roadrunners still have a lot of season left to play, where they will have many chances to redeem themselves. Their next game is this Saturday, Oct. 12 against NJAC rival Montclair State University, which will most definitely be an exciting match-up. The Roadrunners haven’t faced the Red Hawks since they were defeated by them in the sectional round of the NCAA tournament last season. The action will begin at 1 p.m. at the Athletic Center turf field.
ksutphin@ramapo.edu
