MAHWAH, N.J. (10/29/14) – Seven different Cougars contributed to the scoring as the Kean University men's soccer team rolled a 4-2 Wednesday win over Ramapo College into a guaranteed playoff berth on the regular season's final day.
With the victory, the Cougars have clinched a spot in the coming NJAC Championship. The first round of the six-team tournament will begin on Saturday at the home of the third and fourth seeds. The one- and two-seeds will have byes.
Update: The Cougars will be the fourth seed and host No. 5 seed Richard Stockton College at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Kean Alumni Stadium in the NJAC Quarterfinals.
It was a tense first 25 minutes in Mahwah with no scoring and Kean getting outshot 3-1. The Cougars had a chance to back into the playoffs if they dropped the game on Wednesday, but they knew a win would have guaranteed a spot with no other help needed.
Freshman Sevag Kherlopian – the team's leading scorer – finally cut the anxiety when he headed in Kevin Olaya's pass into the Ramapo cage for the game's first goal.
The Roadrunners resisted being an easy obstacle to the playoffs, however, and snapped back quickly to tie the game less than three minutes later. After Kean's short time with the lead, the teams played tight until the closing minutes of the first half.
Just before the break, the Cougars ripped off a rapid pair of goals that changed the complexion of the game. Senior Kelvin Flores (pictured left) picked a great time for his first goal of the season at 40:16, and with Ramapo still on its heels Michael Vargas and Kenny Rocha teamed to double the Cougar lead with three minutes to go before halftime.
With a two-goal advantage, Kean tried to limit the Roadrunners' offensive chances for most of the second half. Goaltender Brad Watkins made four second-half saves and six total on the day to help deliver the win for the Cougars.
Senior Patrick Foley added an insurance goal at 72:55 with an assist from Richard Zapata, which was also the senior's first score of the year and fifth of his career.
Ramapo added a late goal to make the final score 4-2. The Roadrunners end their season with an 8-9-1 record and 1-7-1 in the NJAC. Kean is 11-7-1 and 5-4 in the league, and will await its postseason pairing.
Note: The men's soccer tiebreakers are as follows: head-to-head competition, best record versus teams in rank order, (i.e. vs. first place team, then second-place team, etc.), then team with the greatest goal differential in all conference games.
