Mahwah, NJ: The Ramapo College men's soccer team delivered a commanding performance tonight shutting out the City College of New York (CCNY) 3-0 at the Athletic Center Turf Field. With the win, the Roadrunners improved to 6-1-1 on the season, while the Beavers fall to 0-5-2.
Ramapo dominated across the stat sheet, outshooting CCNY 18-2, including a 6-1 edge in shots on goal. CCNY goalkeeper Rudy Guttierrez recorded three saves, while Ramapo's
Axel Da Silva made one stop in a full 90-minute effort. Da Silva was joined by
Patrick Santiago,
Francisco Perez-Rodriguez, and
Ryan Fernandez as players who went the distance, with Perez-Rodriguez and Fernandez each making their first collegiate start and logging their first full match.
The first half ended scoreless, but the Roadrunners set the tone from the opening whistle. They outshot the Beavers 12-1 in the first 45 minutes, with
Cristian Alvarez starting the action with a shot just two minutes in and followed up with two more attempts in the fifth minute, both blocked by the CCNY defense. Ramapo nearly broke through in the sixth minute when
Justin Reid forced Guttierrez into his first save of the match.
Despite their pressure, Ramapo couldn't find the net in the first half. CCNY's lone first-half shot came in the 41st minute and missed wide.
David Lopes forced another save from Guttierrez in the 45th minute, and nearly found the back of the net with a curling free kick that sailed just wide of the right post.
The breakthrough came early in the second half. In the 52nd minute, freshman
Patrick Santiago netted his first collegiate goal with a low finish to the left side of the goal, set up by a pass from Lopes. Just over two minutes later, fellow freshman
Vincent Candela extended the lead to 2-0, scoring off a setup by
Jayden Roldan, who notched his first collegiate assist along with Lopes. The Roadrunners struck again in the 58th minute, with Candela bagging his second goal of the night — this time assisted by sophomore
Jalal Khalifeh, his second of the season and seventh of his career. Candela made the most of his collegiate debut, tallying two goals.
CCNY managed one on-target attempt late in the game, but Da Silva comfortably handled it in the 75th minute to preserve the clean sheet.
The Roadrunners return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 24 when they head to Morristown, N.J. for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference matchup against Saint Elizabeth.
