UNION, N.J. (9/17/16) – The Kean University men's soccer team won its first NJAC match of the season in emphatic fashion with a 4-1 victory over Stockton University on Saturday afternoon. Senior Sev Kherlopian had two goals – including one on a bicycle kick – and classmate Carmine Colasurdo handed out two assists for the Cougars.
Kean has now won seven-straight matches and is 7-1 on the year. Stockton fell to 2-3-2. It was both teams' first conference action of the season.
Click here to see highlights from today's win!
The match did not start well for the Cougars. Less than five minutes into the contest, a defensive misplay was exploited by Stockton's Joseph Dikmak. He lofted a pass over the back line to Bobby Riordan, who fired the ball to the far post for the score.
But the Cougars were undaunted and answered quickly. Kean built numerous attacks in the first half and outshot the Ospreys 11-7. Four minutes after surrendering the opening goal, Robert Barrera found Kherlopian (pictured left) on the left side and the senior one-timed it into the twine to knot the game at one.
At 19:14, Mathias Patino hit the crossbar from far out - what would have been a spectacular goal - as the Kean offense continued to buzz.
Nearing the end of the first period, Colasurdo corralled the ball over 40 yards from the Osprey cage. He curled a gorgeous ball into the box, where Michael Vargas was waiting to fly in to horizontally head the ball past the Stockton keeper for the go-ahead goal at 39:42.
Kean dominated the second half. The Cougar defense did not allow a shot on goal, while the team ripped 12 second-half shots and put a total of six on-net.
Midway through the period Colasurdo made some magic again. He launched another long pass from the right side, where he found Kazari Trought in the box. The senior transfer lined up and ripped it top shelf to double the Kean lead to two goals.
In the 81st minute, Alex Noriega lofted a pass into the box on the left side. Kherlopian settled it with his chest and went into a full head-over-heels bicycle kick that whistled past the Osprey goalie and touched off a huge celebration by the Cougar fans.
The Kean defense kept the rest of the game quiet and got Brad Watkins his seventh win this year. He made two saves in the game.
The men's soccer team will next head to Brooklyn College on Monday for a non-conference matchup with the Bulldogs at 4 p.m.
