On Saturday, the men’s soccer team lost a crucial New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) matchup against Rowan University, 1-0. The loss moved the Roadrunners to 8-4-4 overall and 3-3-2 in the NJAC, while Rowan continued their unbeaten season inside the conference at 6-0-2 and moved to 9-4-5 overall.
The Profs got out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from midfielder Jason Barragan, assisted by Davide Caputo. From that point on, Rowan took control of the ball, only allowing four total shots on goal for the Roadrunners in the game.
In goal for the Roadrunners, senior captain Nikolai Matthews saved eight of nine Rowan shots on goal, while Profs goalie Dylan Aportela saved all four shots from Ramapo, good for his fourth consecutive shutout. Aportela is currently the favorite to win NJAC goalkeeper of the year, holding Kean University, Stockton University, Montclair State University and Ramapo scoreless while recording 15 total saves in those games.
As for Matthews, the West Orange native has now moved into fifth place all-time in saves in Ramapo history with 153 and counting, and on Saturday reached his 3000th career minute playing as a Roadrunner.
The offense on Saturday for Ramapo never got going, with the Profs dominating the time of possession. Ramapo’s streak of not beating Rowan dates back to 2019 and has now reached five consecutive matches without a win.
The only sliver of offensive opportunity the Roadrunners had came from freshman Gianfranco Ponce, who tallied two of Ramapo’s four shots on goal. Ponce’s nine goals and 62 shot attempts are both close to reaching the freshman record in Ramapo history.
The other shots on goal for Ramapo came from senior captain Jack Hosmer and freshman Jalal Khalifeh. Ramapo was once again without junior midfielder Kyle Allen, who injured his leg three weeks ago against Kean.
Allen attempted to play through the injury against The College of New Jersey two weeks ago, and did end up scoring that day, but has been held out of action ever since, and without him in the lineup, the Roadrunners are 1-2-1 with their lone win coming against the winless New Jersey City University.
To replace Allen, Ramapo has been alternating between sophomore Lucas Mielnikiewicz and junior Alim Lita, but neither have come close to producing to the level of Ramapo’s star midfielder.
Following the team’s 2-1 loss on Wednesday evening to Rutgers-Newark University, and Kean University’s tie against Stockton University, the Roadrunners fell to the No. 7 spot in the NJAC standings, pushing them out of the playoffs. Overall, the Roadrunners finished with a 3-4-2 conference record. They’ll await to see if they qualify for any potential out-of-conference NCAA postseason tournaments.
In the NJAC playoffs, Rowan University and Montclair State University earned byes as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, while Kean will face Rutgers-Camden University and Stockton will face Rutgers-Newark in the first round.
wjackso2@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of tessapofahlphoto, instagram
