Box Score Jersey City, NJ:  New Jersey City University defeated Ramapo College, 4-2 New Jersey Athletic Conference men's soccer victory on Monday afternoon at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.

NJCU (6-10-1, 2-5-0 NJAC) wins its third consecutive game and after opening the NJAC schedule with an 0-5-0 record, suddenly find themselves in position to compete for the final seed in the 2011 NJAC Tournament, after beating The College of New Jersey, 5-1, on Saturday, and Ramapo (7-7-2, 1-5-1 NJAC).

With the loss, Ramapo was eliminated from NJAC Tournament contention as NJCU, with six points, leapfrogged the Roadrunners in the standings, and into seventh place—just two points shy of sixth-place Richard Stockton College with one game remaining in the regular season. If NJCU can upset Rutgers-Camden, and Newark can defeat Stockton, the Knights will earn the final seed in the conference tournament with a historic late-season surge to its credit.

With the win, NJCU regained the lead in the all-time series, 18-17-5, and registered its first win over the Roadrunners since the 2007 season; the Knights had been 0-2-1 in the last three meetings. It was the final home game of the season and was a makeup of a rainout from October 19. NJCU outshot Ramapo, 22-16 and scored on four of its five shots on goal.

Senior forward Walter Avans scored his 12th goal of the season and 39th of his standout career. Freshman midfielder Andrew Lopes and junior Gabriel Avans each scored in the first half for a 3-1 halftime lead.

Senior midfielder Tom Krychkowski scored off a quick restart in the 76th minute—less than three minutes after Ramapo had cut the NJCU lead to 3-2—with a key mark that helped secure the win.

Freshman midfielder Marco Avella, junior forward Amanfo Assibu and junior midfielder Eduardo Tejada all contributed assists.

Ramapo junior forward Rob Santaniello, the reigning NJAC Offensive Player of the Year, was credited with 14th goal of the season off an oddly deflected corner kick in the 28th minute. Sophomore forward Kevin Carbone made it a one-goal game in the 73rd minute off junior midfielder Jonathan Yazo's NJAC-leading 13th assist. Santaniello had a game-high eight shots, with four on goal. Yazo's assist tied him with Jorge Chipoco (13, 1994) for second place on the single season assist list.

NJCU rookie goalkeeper Daniel Sequeira, who earlier in the day was named the NJAC Rookie of the Week, improved to 3-0-0 in goal with five saves, including a pair of highlight-reel, back-to-back point-blank rejections of shots within 10 yards by Santaniello late in the 80th minute before Lopes made a team save on the left post on the second rebound at the end of the sequence.

Ramapo junior David Lo Bue played the first 45 minutes, allowing three goals without a save. Sophomore Steve Monaghan made one save against one goal in the second period.

Avans, scored his fifth goal within conference play this year early in the 13th minute to put NJCU in front. Avella, who notched his first collegiate point with the assist, slipped a thru ball into the box and Avans, in a 1-on-2 unleashed a shot that caromed off the inside of the left post and settled in the nylon for a 1-0 lead at 12:14.

While NJCU had 12 of the first 14 shots of the game and dominated control in the first half, Ramapo was able to tie it at 27:57. Santaniello took a corner kick from the far right corner and Walter Avans leaped on the endline, deflecting the ball up and towards the goal. The ball took an odd bend and found its way into the top left corner of the net off the fingertips of a leaping Sequeira to tie the game. It was the 51st career goal for Santaniello and he is now just one goal shy of equaling Ramapo's career goals record of 52, which is held by NJCU head coach Nansha Kalonji.

NJCU was able to shake off the misfortune less than 90 seconds later. Assibu, who picked up his second assist of the year, slid a pass from the middle of the field to the far left wing to Lopes, who had just substituted into the game 65 seconds earlier. Lopes dribbled into the left side of the box and ripped home a rocket into the left of the goal for his first NCAA goal and a 2-1 lead at 29:24.

NJCU extended the lead to 3-1 at the 36:18 mark. After a corner kick by Krychkowski, Ramapo's defense attempted to clear the ball out. But Gabriel Avans settled the clear at the top of the box, made two moves to his left to elude a pair of defenders and chipped a shot into the top left 90 that may have been deflected by a Ramapo defender, and completely fooled LoBue. The Ramapo defense later cleared a ball off the left post early in the 42nd minute to prevent a fourth goal.

At the 59:02 mark of the second period, the Knights had another excellent chance to add to their lead as Walter Avans ripped a shot from the left wing that took a wicked bend and glanced off the right post. With the deficit two, Ramapo made it a one-goal game at the 72:47 mark. Yazo crossed a ball from 30 yards out on the right sideline that skipped past three defenders and onto the left wing where Carbone ran onto the loose ball and buried a shot into the left side of the target in a 1-on-1.

But NJCU got the goal back with a heads-up play by a pair of former high school teammates. After a Ramapo foul at the top of the box, Tejada quickly restarted play, flicking a pass to Krychkowski on the left wing. With Ramapo caught off guard, Krychkowski capitalized, slamming home his fourth goal of the season for a 4-2 cushion at 75:25; the assist was the fourth for Tejada.

While NJCU plays its most important game since the 2008 season on Wednesday night, Ramapo will close its season with a 3 p.m. home game against Montclair State University in Mahwah, NJ.