UNION, N.J. (9/24/14) – Freshman Sevag Kherlopian scored two second-half goals as the Kean University men's soccer team erased a 1-0 deficit to win a crucial NJAC matchup with New Jersey City University 2-1 on Wednesday night.
The Cougars are now 2-1 in the conference and 7-3-1 overall, while NJCU fell to 1-8-3 and 0-3 in the league.
Kean's best chance of the first 45 was Patrick Foley's hard shot on the endline just two minutes in. The senior got off a powerful attempt but it was from a difficult angle and NJCU goalie Tyler Krychkowski was able to get in the way.
The Gothic Knights' first half goal came 19 minutes into the match. In a deceptively routine setup, Kevin Cavalcanti threaded a long pass through the Kean defense. Aboubacar Diawara was the first to reach the long volley and was in behind the Cougar line. His shot from the left side was good for the 1-0 lead.
The Knights would go on to take that advantage into the break, despite being outshot 10-7.
Kean finally got its first goal with a nifty play. Richard Zapata passed into the penalty area from just outside the box. His pass toward the center was re-directed immediately by Kevin Olaya to the outside, where Kherlopian was waiting all alone. The freshman fired the ball underneath the sprawling goaltender to knot the game at one.
Later in the second half, there was a great stop by Cougar defenseman Tom Bogert. It came on a broken play in front of the Kean cage. NJCU took a header toward the open goal, but Bogert (pictured left) came flying in to stop the scoring bid with with his head and send it high.
The Cougars had another good chance for Robert Barrera with a brief 1-on-1 opportunity following that play, but Krychkowski was there for the save. On the other end, Cougar goalie Nick Pavlichko made an important stop with 16 minutes to go, sliding to stop a shot from the top of the six yard box. He made six saves total to earn the victory.
With only six minutes left in regulation, Kean dialed the right combination on another free kick. Olaya served the ball into the box, where Kherlopian's running header found paydirt and scored the freshman's fifth goal of the season. Kean would hold on to win the wild game that featured four yellow cards and 20 fouls.
Kean will hit the road this weekend for an NJAC matchup with Rutgers-Camden at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
