WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University men's soccer team, ranked fifth in the latest NSCAA/HendrickCars.com National Rankings, won its sixth game to open the 2010 season, defeating the New Jersey Institute of Technology, 3-0 on Sunday afternoon on The Great Lawn.
Three different Hawks scored in the nonconference contest, as freshman Jacob Rubinstein (Ocean Township, N.J. /Ocean), junior Cesar Blacido (Ramsey, N.J.) and junior George Quintano (Manalapan, N.J. /Manalapan) all found the back of the net for the Blue and White.
"I am pleased with today's result, I thought we put in a thorough performance and created a lot of scoring chances," said MU head coach Robert McCourt. "We played well top to bottom considering how difficult Friday's match (at Seton Hall) was. I am happy with the performance overall."
Monmouth, which has now won nine of the 10 all-time meetings between the two Garden State schools, got on the board right before halftime when, after a scrum in the box, sophomore Ryan Clark (Freehold, N.J. /Freehold Township) slid a pass to Rubinstein who blasted a shot past NJIT keeper John Rickett in the 44th minute. The goal was the newcomer's third of the season, while Clark added his second assist of the season and the seventh of his career.
The home side struck again in the 78th minute when Quintano played a ball through to Blacido in the box, who beat the keeper 1v1 for his first goal of the season and the third of his career. The assist was Quintano's second career helper. Three minutes later, the junior from Manalapan received a touch pass from senior Hermann Trophy candidate Ryan Kinne (Naugatuck, Conn. /Naugatuck) at the top of the box and scored to give MU its final 3-0 lead. The score was Quintano's third career goal, while Kinne contributed his third assist of the season and the 18th of his career, which ties him for the fourth-most all-time in program history with Nick Sacco (1984-87) and Joni Kallioinen (1989-91).
Senior keeper and Hermann Trophy candidate Bryan Meredith (Scotch Plains, N.J. /Scotch Plains-Fanwood) made three saves in earning the shutout win. The clean sheet is Meredith's third of the season and the 28th of his career.
MU outshot the Highlanders, who fell to 2-4 with the loss, 18-8 in the match, including 8-1 in the first half. The Hawks also had seven corner kicks, compared to three for the visitors.
Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, September 25 when it hosts Loyola (Md.) at 4:00 pm on The Great Lawn.
