STOCKTON PICKS UP ITS FIRST NJAC WIN

Pat Rafferty

Boxscore

Richard Stockton (7-3-1, 1-2-1 NJAC) earned their first NJAC victory of the season with a 2-1 win over New Jersey City (3-5-1, 0-3 NJAC) on Saturday afternoon. Pat Rafferty (Brick/ Christian Brothers Academy) had a goal and an assist to lead the Ospreys.

Stockton took a 1-0 lead just 7:36 into the match when Rafferty made a nice feed to freshman Matt Jenne (Kinnelon/Kinnelon) who hit the net for the early lead. The goal was Jenne’s second counter of the year.

In the second half, Rafferty’s team-leading seventh goal of the season made it 2-0 with just over 12 minutes remaining, following a crossing pass from Dominic Nocito (Delran/Delran) for the assist.

The Gothic Knights scored less than three minutes later on a shot by Gabriel Avans. Eduardo Tejada assisted on the score. NJCU caught the Ospreys off guard by playing a quick restart following a Stockton foul just outside the box and Avans buried a sharp-angle shot from the right wing.

New Jersey City outshot Stockton 21-5, but many attempts were low-percentage shots from long range in contrast to Stockton’s ball-possession attack. Ospreys’ goalkeeper Lou Herring (Freehold/Freehold) made seven saves for his first victory of the year. Knights’ keeper Manny Lojo kicked out one shot in suffering the loss.