By Eddie Young
Sports Editor
The College’s men’s soccer team dropped a home game on Oct. 14 to No. 6 Montclair State University by a score of 4-0. This loss gives the College a 3-10-2 overall record, and a 1-4-1 record in the NJAC.
Things never really got underway for the Lions, as Montclair State took control of the game right from the start. They controlled the ball for most of the first half, and were able to take 10 shots in the half, compared to one from the Lions.
Five of the Red Hawks’ shots were on goal, with one by junior midfielder Amer Lukovic getting past senior goalkeeper Julian Franco in the 21st minute to give them a 1-0 lead at halftime. Franco had four of his seven saves in the first half.
Things only got worse for the College in the second half. In the 47th minute, Franco was called for an illegal touching foul outside of the penalty area, giving Lukovic a penalty kick, which he converted.
The Red Hawks scored twice more later in the half, as they were just too much for the Lions to handle in this game. They outshot the College 11-3 in the second half, tallying up to a total of 21 shots compared to four for the College.
Franco had four more of his seven saves in the second half, and his work in net kept the game from being more of a blowout than it could have been. Freshman midfielder Matias Hornos had two of the College’s four shots, with one being on goal, and sophomore midfielder J.J. Zaun had the team’s other two shots.
For Montclair State, this win added on to an already dominant season for their team. Lukovic had 10 shots, with seven of them being on goal in this game. He scored his 21st and 22nd goals on the season, which has him leading the NJAC in goals by an absurd 10 goals.
The Red Hawks became 12-1-1 with this win, and 6-0 in conference play. They are atop of the conference, and at No. 6 in the country, they are the highest ranked team the College has to face this season.
“Playing a team like Montclair shows us what the top level teams in the NJAC look like and what we need to do to be able to compete on the same level,” said Zaun.
The Lions only have three games left in the season before the NJAC conference tournament rolls around. They will travel to Rowan University on Oct. 18 and New Jersey City University on Oct. 21. To end off the regular season, they will host Rutgers-Camden on Oct. 25 for the team’s Senior Night.
