New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Gothic Knight Insights, MARCO AVELLA
POST-GAME INTERVIEWS: Patrick Snyder, RUBEN MORALES, SANTIAGO LOPEZ-CORREA
VIDEO HIGHLIGHT: MOHAMED CONTEH Top 10 nominee (from two angles)

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University junior forward ANDY CABAN (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional) scored on a running header in the 25^th minute before NJCU All-Region senior defensive midfielder MOHAMED CONTEH (Trenton, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro North) scored a ridiculous insurance goal from more than 35 yards out in the 85^th minute and the Gothic Knights secured their first shutout of the season with a 2-0 New Jersey Athletic Conference blanking of rival Kean University on October 2 at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
 
NJCU continues the trend of outshooting all nine opponents this season as the Knights improve to 5-4 and 2-1 in the league. Kean (8-4, 1-2 NJAC) suffers its second straight loss and its first setback to the Knights since 2008. NJCU had a slight 15-13 edge in shots, putting five on goal.
 
Junior goalkeeper RUBEN MORALES (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) earned his first shutout as a Gothic Knight, stopping three shots, including a one-handed stop of a dangerous ball behind him in the 66^th minute.
 
Morales was protected by a standout defensive unit, that included Conteh, sophomore CHRISTOPHER SEGOVIA (North Bergen, NJ/Memorial) and rookies GABRIEL FREITAS (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) and SANTIAGO LOPEZ-CORREA (North Bergen, NJ/Belleville). All four players logged a full 90 minutes.
 
Kean rookie goalkeeper Brad Watkins (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) played the first 85:29 in net before leaving with an injury. He made three saves and the two goals he surrendered were unstoppable. Senior Tyler Callahan (Landisville, NJ/Buena Regional) played the final 4:31 without a save.
 
NJCU outshot Kean, 7-3 in the opening period and led 1-0 at halftime after Caban teamed with sophomore midfielder ABOUBACAR DIAWARA (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne). At 24:02, Diawara dribbled along the far left wing and near the endline delivered a perfect aerial cross inside the six where a running Caban headed home a wicked shot for his third goal of the season; Diawara picked up his first assist.
 
Conteh put the game away at 84:19 when he uncorked a scintillating shot from 35 yards out along the  left near sideline. The bar was placed perfectly—over the leaping hands of Watkins and just underneath the crossbar—for his third goal of the season.
 
Diawara led NJCU with four shots while Caban added three and four Gothic Knights attempted multiple chances. Diawara had a breakaway chance in the 50^th minute and another wide-open look in the 60^th. Caban had a point-blank header stopped by Watkins in the 53^rd.
 
Four Cougars had multiple shots. Kean's best scoring chances came in the 43^rd minute when freshman forward Kenny Rocha (Springfield, NJ/Jonathan Dayton), who had three shots in the game, had his point-blank opportunity blocked in the box by the NJCU defense. Morales made his one-handed reach-back save on a chance by senior forward Stephen Moll (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) at 65:47.
 
NJCU returns to action on Saturday, October 5 at 2 p.m. when it faces Richard Stockton College in an NJAC game in Galloway, NJ.