UNION, N.J. (10/12/16) – The Kean University men's soccer team won its fourth-straight shutout victory on Wednesday with a 3-0 blanking of New Jersey City University. The Cougars have outscored their opponents 13-0 during the four-game run and 51-11 over the season.
Click here to see highlights from tonight's win!
Kean was dominant in the first half. The Cougars allowed just four shots and only one snuck through to Bryce Horn for the save. In contrast, the Gothic Knights faced 21 Cougars shots.
Despite the statistical dominance it took 25 minutes to find the back of the net; before that Kenny Rocha's shot that hit the crossbar represented the Cougars' best scoring chance.
Michael Vargas got the offense going when he one-timed Kazari Trought's perfect pass to the six-yard box in for the goal. Alex Noriega also earned an assist on the play for hitting Trought with a pass on his run down the left side.
Two minutes later, Noriega had a remarkable play where he stole the ball and kicked a long pass over the defense in one motion. Kamsi Udodi ran down the ball, was in all alone and beat the goalkeeper left side to make the score 2-0.
Just before the end of the first half, Udodi stuck again on a similar play. This time, Jake Santos (pictured left) stole the ball and was able to find Udodi deep in the NJCU zone. Udodi's creative finish required him to beat three different defenders – including the goalie - and after doing so he tapped the ball in from 25 yards out for his fourth goal of the season.
The second half also featured 21 Kean shots, and Adam Cassidy did well to turn them all away and keep the Gothic Knights in the game. But the Cougar defense let up just one quality scoring chance and Horn was there for the save to keep the shutout streak intact.
Kean is now 13-3 on the season and 4-2 in the NJAC. The Gothic Knights are undefeated in non-conference play (8-0-1) but 0-6 in the league.
The Cougars will play their first road match in two weeks at Rutgers-Camden at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
