Last Saturday, Rowan men’s soccer faced off against New Jersey City University [NJCU] in a 2-0 shutout by the Profs.  

It wasn’t until the 36th minute of the game that Anthony Arena, a sophmore and forward, drilled a bouncing pass that popped off the head of Aaron Robertson, a back, and found the upper left corner of the net for the first goal of the game.

This gave Rowan a 1-0 lead which they kept for the rest of the game. 

This goal was the first of Arena’s career at Rowan. Arena was a key part of Rowan’s aggressive offens.

“It felt pretty good,” Arena said. “It was bouncing around the box a little bit. We were pressing them a lot so it was bound to come for one of us and it just landed to me.”

Although the Profs won 2-0, there were a handful of opportunities where Rowan was inches away from scoring, but NJCU cleared the ball away at the goal line. Following through during these moments was a point of emphasis for the team, explained Forward Chad Yates.

“A lot [of goals] . . . were just inches away from going in. That’s just going to come down to desire and who wants it more . . . Defenders, obviously, they’re trying to clear it. We’re coming forward trying to score so it’s going to come down to the mindset of the person charging in on the ball,” Yates said. “Every shot we take and all the rebounds and all the close calls, we’re going to have to start fixing those if we want to continue to win games.”

Later in the game, Yates sent the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to score Rowan’s second goal of the night.

This sent the crowd to their feet one last time for the night. According to Yates, the fans give the Profs an advantage over their opponents. 

“We usually pack the house here,” Yates said. “It’s always going to be tough for opponents to come into this place and beat us. So, if we can continue to have the fans show support, [and we] give our best into the game, I think there’s not much [the] opponents are going to be able to do.”

“I’m just happy to pick up another NJAC win, another shutout,” Head Coach Baker said. “Defense wins championships and we’re proving we can do that.”

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