Hackettstown, NJ – The John Jay men's soccer team continued its strong run of form on Saturday afternoon, scoring three times in an eight-minute span in the second half to secure a 3-0 road victory over Centenary University at J.E. Reeves Jr. Field.
With the victory, the Bloodhounds improved to 3-2-0 on the season and extended their winning streak to three straight matches after opening the campaign 0-2. Centenary dropped to 1-4-1.
After the two sides battled through a scoreless opening 45 minutes, John Jay took control after halftime. The breakthrough came in the 58th minute when
Josh Clemas found the back of the net for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Blake Paves provided the assist as the Bloodhounds grabbed a 1-0 advantage at 57:29.
John Jay doubled its lead less than six minutes later. In the 64th minute,
Karl Menuau scored his first goal of the season off a feed from
Petur Larusson, pushing the visitors ahead, 2-0.
The Bloodhounds weren't finished. Just 2:11 later,
Daniel Mansur joined the scoring column with his first goal of the year at 65:23. Paves picked up his second assist of the afternoon, giving John Jay a commanding 3-0 advantage. The three goals came over a span of just 7:54, turning what had been a tightly contested scoreless match into a comfortable Bloodhound lead.
John Jay's defense took care of the rest. Davio Rossi-Levin played all 90 minutes in goal and finished with four saves to preserve the clean sheet. Centenary generated several opportunities down the stretch, but Rossi-Levin turned away shots in the 67th, 84th and 87th minutes to keep the Cyclones off the scoreboard. The shutout marked Rossi-Levin's second consecutive clean sheet and his 10th career shutout, adding to his program-record total.
John Jay held a 18-13 advantage in shots, including a 6-4 edge in shots on goal, while also earning seven corner kicks to Centenary's six. Clemas, Menuau and Mansur accounted for the three goals, while Paves finished with two assists and Larusson added one.
The Bloodhounds created several chances before the halftime break but couldn't convert. Paves forced Centenary goalkeeper Gavin Veres into a save in the 18th minute, Larusson put another attempt on target in the 25th and
Ian Hartigan tested Veres in the 38th. John Jay's second-half eruption ultimately proved decisive as the Bloodhounds continued their turnaround with another convincing road performance.
After being held to one goal over their first two matches of the season, the Bloodhounds have now outscored their opponents 9-1 during their three-match winning streak, earning victories over Keene State, Merchant Marine and Centenary.
The Bloodhounds will look to make it four straight on Monday, September 14 as they will head to Newark, NJ to tangle with NYU at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium on the campus of NJIT.
Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m.
