WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University men's soccer team defeated Sacred Heart 2-0 in Northeast Conference action on Friday afternoon on The Great Lawn. The Hawks improve to 10-3-2 on the season and 4-1-1 in league play while the Pioneers drop to 5-7-2 and 2-3-1 in the conference.
“It wasn't pretty, but getting a conference win is the most important thing as we move towards our ultimate goal of winning the conference,” said Monmouth head coach Robert McCourt.
Monmouth controlled the action and the lion's share of the possession in the first half as they built their early one goal lead. After pressing the action, Monmouth's Rob LaRocca (Holmdel, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) was brought down in the box and the Hawks were awarded a penalty kick. Sophomore Ryan Kinne (Naugatuck, Conn./Naugatuck) took the penalty kick and beat the keeper to the left to put MU up 1-0 three minutes before intermission.
Kinne struck again in the second half when he stole the ball on the SHU side of the field and created a break the other way for Monmouth, finding Andreas Klang (Gothemberg, Sweden/Brevard C.C.) for the goal in the 50th minute. The marker was Klang's first of the season, with Kinne registering his fifth assist of the year, tying him for the team lead. From there, MU hung on and played tough defense to blank SHU.
“The sun was very tough going towards their goal in the second half,” said Kinne. “I saw Klang make his run and noticed he had a better angle at goal and found him. Getting that second goal was huge for us.”
MU keeper Bryan Meredith (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains-Fanwood) made a career-high nine saves to log his seventh shutout of the season, upping his record to 10-3-2. The Pioneers outshot Monmouth 16-7 and held a 6-0 advantage on corner kicks in the match.
This afternoon's win sets up a huge match-up for the Hawks on Sunday when they host in-state rival Fairleigh Dickinson at 1:00 p.m. Monmouth will celebrate their Senior Day before their match with the Knights, as seniors Angelo Amato (Livingston, N.J./Montclair Kimberly Academy), Rich Baker (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City), Dan Haydu (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East), Klang, LaRocca, Michael Pereira (Barrington, R.I./La Salle Academy) and Chris Riordan (Ossining, N.Y./Iona Prep) will be honored with a pregame ceremony before playing their final regular season home match. Also on Sunday, the Hawks will welcome the U10 Middletown Heat soccer club to serve as ball boys during the game.
