Niagara Purple Eagles (4-6-0, 2-0-0 MAAC) – 2
Monmouth Hawks (0-8-1, 0-2-0 MAAC) – 0
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – A penalty kick and a late header sent Niagara past the Monmouth University men's soccer team on Saturday afternoon, 2-0.
The Hawks held a 19-13 advantage in shots and possessed the ball for 61 percent of the game, but two second half tallies gave the Purple Eagles their second MAAC win.
Junior
Sebastian Rodriguez (Cartago, Costa Rica/Mont Berkeley) led the team in shots with four, including two on goal. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper
Sean Murray (Fanwood, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) made six saves in the loss, bringing his season total up to 36.
Monmouth will look to rebound when they host Siena on Wednesday. The game will air on ESPN3.
NOTES AND QUOTES
"I thought we played quite well for about 70 minutes or so, creating scoring chances and keeping possession. We had a moment go against us to make the score 0-1 and that kind of unsettled us. We need to build on those first 70 minutes and come back strong on Wednesday."
- Monmouth head coach Robert McCourt
-Before the game, Monmouth honored five seniors (
George Akampeke,
John Antunes,
Michael Luke,
Andy Martinez, and
Chris Scheuerman).
-Monmouth scattered five shots in the first 10 minutes of the game, including a rip from sophomore
Robin Oswald that went just wide.
-The first half came to a close with the game scoreless, despite the Hawks having a 12-4 edge in shots.
-In the 64
th minute, Monmouth was called for a trip inside the box. Niagara's Absalom Solorio-Villalpando placed the ball in the bottom right corner for the 1-0 lead.
-In the 71
st minute, the Purple Eagles tacked on another goal with a turnaround cross and header.
-The Hawks had three shots on goal after that, including two great chances for sophomore
Michael Neff and freshman
Anthony Arena, but all were saved.
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-The Hawks had a 9-8 edge in shots on goal.
-Freshman
Julian Gomez added three shots, while sophomore
Robin Oswald, freshman
Ben Zakowski, and Arena each had two.
-Monmouth held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.
-Rodriguez leads the team with 17 shots this season. Antunes is second with 12.
UP NEXT
Monmouth will remain home to face Siena next Wednesday.
