Montclair, NJ – The No. 8 Montclair State men's soccer team cruised to a 7-0 shutout victory over Hunter College Wednesday afternoon at MSU Soccer Park.
The Red Hawks (4-0) outshot Hunter 13-2 on the day and received a pair of goals from sophomore
GENE CARLO ALTAMIRANO.
After a slow start, the Red Hawks broke through in the 14th minute. Freshman
ALEX ZIELONKA took a pass on the far side and slipped the ball to rookie
AMER LUKOVIC. Lukovic, the New Jersey Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week, moved around a defender and found classmate
REED KARSEN. Karsen took a touch from just inside the 18 and fired a shot that beat a diving goalkeeper for the 1-0 lead.
Hunter came back out and put their lone shot of the game on target, but the Red Hawks doubled the lead in the 24th minute. Lukovic sent in a corner kick, and fellow freshman
IAN CHESNEY muscled his way in front of the goal and headed the ball in for his second tally of the year. Montclair State continued to apply pressure and was awarded a third goal thanks to a bad clear by a Hunter defender, resulting in an own goal.
Just 2:55 before halftime, the Red Hawks were awarded a corner kick. They were unsuccessful, but the carom came to sophomore
MICHAEL CASPER. Casper sent a cross to the far post, and Altamirano could get a head on it for his first of two markers on the day.
The lead swelled to 6-0 as the Red Hawks scored twice in 22 seconds. The Casper-Altamirano connection linked for the fifth goal of the day, and off the restart, Casper stripped a defender in the defensive end and went to goal. Instead of shooting, he slid a pass to
JANBI KAGHADO to had an open net for his second marker of the year. Montclair got one additional marker as
CHRISTIAN BERNAL capped off scoring with his first career goal in the 80th minute as time ticked away.
ANDRES LEZME earned the win, playing 51:57.
JULIAN GUZMAN and
CHARLIE REVY made their collegiate debuts in goal, finishing out the victory. Casper notched a career-high three assists and became the eighth Red Hawk to record three or more assists in a game. Anthony Simos suffered the loss for Hunter, making one save.
The Red Hawks continue their homestand Saturday, hosting New York University at noon.
