Mahwah, NJ: The Ramapo College men's soccer team opened the 2024 season with a thrilling 4-2 win over Wilkes University (1-1 overall) tonight at the Athletic Center Turf Field.
Ramapo took a 2-1 lead into halftime with back-to-back goals from
Gianfranco Ponce. Landon Kelly would net a late first half goal (42:35) to put Wilkes on the board.
Jalal Khalifeh assisted on the first goal of the game in the 7th minute while Ponce added the second in the 9th minute, unassisted. In the second half, Xavier Guerreiro would tie the game in the 52nd minute, 2-2, before Ponce gave Ramapo a 3-2 lead off a pass from
Jack Hosmer to collect his first collegiate hat-trick in his Roadrunner debut.
Kyle Allen would add an insurance goal, assisted by Ponce just 32 seconds later for a 4-2 score.
Ramapo posted 26 shots including ten on goal while they recorded eight corner kicks. In goal, Nikoali Matthews recorded two saves for the Roadrunners. Wilkes tallied nine shots and four on goal and collected three corner kicks. Matthew Conti posted two saves in the first half while Owen Heale recorded four saves in the second half for Wilkes.
The Roadrunners return to action on Wednesday, September 4th when they travel to Moravian University for a non-conference match at 4:00 pm.
