Madison, N.J. (November 10)- The fourth-seeded FDU-Florham men's soccer team matches up with fifth-seeded New Jersey City University in the first round of the 2023 ECAC Division III Men's Soccer Championship Tournament on Sunday, November 12. The game will be played on Robert T. Shields Field at 12:00 pm.

This will be the third time since 2012 that these two programs faced off and the first time since 2014. The Devils are currently 0-1-1 against the Gothic Knights heading into Sunday's match.
 
Tournament Central
 
Scouting the Devils

 FDU-Florham comes into this matchup with an overall record of 9-2-6. Being the home team, the Devils boast a 6-1-3 home record including a 5-0-1 record at home in non-conference play.   The team was just shy of making the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Tournament as they finished fifth in the conference.

The Devils are led by Head Coach Keith O'Connor who entered his Fifth season as the Men's Soccer Coach at FDU-Florham. He has posted an overall record of 33-25-16 as the Devils Head Coach.

Offensively, The Devils are a well-rounded unit that saw four players score 5+ goals this season. Diego Trujillo (Bridgewater, N.J.) stands out as the first team All-MAC Freedom selection from the FDU-Florham team. He ranked second in the conference in shots (52) and shots on goal (24). The sophomore midfielder sunk five goals and assisted three for a total of 13 points on the season. Drilon Toska (Lincoln Park, N.J.) led the team in goals with six (tied for second best in the MAC Freedom) as well assisting a goal to match Diego's 13-point season total. Oliver Trujillo (Bridgewater, N.J.) was the team's assist and points leader with five assists on the year that was also tied for third best in the MAC Freedom and totaled 16 points which was tied for the fourth best mark in their league. Irfan Kermalli (Parsippany, N.J.) is also a threat to score as he notched five goals on the season to go along with four assists for a total of 14 points which was the sixth best mark in their conference.

Defensively, FDU-Florham was led by the impressive goalkeeping ability of second team All-MAC Freedom selection, Anthony Petrucci (West Orange, N.J.). Petrucci totaled a second-best league total 73 saves on the season (4.06 saves per game), the third-best goals against average with a 1.106 and the third-best shutout mark with four on the season. The defense is also anchored with a great back line of All-MAC honorable mention honoree Jack Montanile (Toms River, N.J.), Faizan Arshad (Boonton, N.J.) and Yariel Parapi (North Bergan, N.J.). The group helped hold their opponents to only 19 goals and held them to an average of 1.12 goals per game.
 
Scouting the Gothic Knights

New Jersey City comes into the ECAC playoffs after a 7-7-2 regular season. NJCU posted a 5-1-1 out of conference record that includes a 3-1-0 non-conference road record. The Gothic Knights also did not qualify for their conference tournament, finishing seventh out of 10 teams in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC).

The Gothic Knights are led by Head Coach Brendan Guzman, who took over the helm just this year.

On the offensive side, NJCU is led by second team All-NJAC selection Danny Tobon who led the team in goals (7) and points (18) as well as collecting four assists. Maximo Vargas was right behind Tobon with six goals on the year and also tallied two assists for 14 points in the regular season while Jorkeaf Fallas who led the team in assists with five as well as scoring three goals for a total of 11 points.

Defensively, New Jersey City is led by the backline presence of Jason Salamanca who was an All-NJAC Honorable mention selection this season. In goal, Nick Linebaugh is the goalkeeper to watch as he has started all 15 of his appearances in goal, the most of any goalkeeper on the team. Linebaugh has made 75 saves on the year including five saves per game which is the third best mark in the NJAC. He has also collected 1.962 goals against average and has pitched four shutouts.

The winner of this game, which was designated as the Pod 4 match, will play the winner of the Pod 1 slate that includes first seeded Alvernia, eight seeded Saint Elizabeth and ninth seeded Lehman.

Pod 1 First Round - Saturday, Nov. 11 & Sunday, Nov. 12 at Alvernia University
Game 1: (Sat.): No. 8 St. Elizabeth vs. No. 9 Lehman at 1:00 PM
Game 2 (Sun.): No. 1 Alvernia vs. Winner Game 1 at 12:00 PM

Pod 4 First Round - Sunday, Nov. 12 at FDU Florham
Game 1: (Sun.): No. 4 FDU Florham vs. No. 5 NJCU at 12:00 PM

Pod 3 First Round - Saturday, Nov. 11 at Goucher College
Game 1: (Sun.): No. 3 Virginia Wesleyan vs. No. 6 Goucher at 2:00 PM, game to be played Saturday.

Pod 2 First Round - Saturday, Nov. 11 & Sunday, Nov. 12 at PSU Behrend
Game 1: (Sat.): No. 7 Franciscan vs. No. 10 Pitt Greensburg 3:00 PM
Game 2 (Sun.): No. 2 PSU Behrend vs. Winner Game 1 2:00 PM

Semifinals – Saturday Nov. 18 at TBD
SF 1: Winner Pod 1 vs Winner Pod 4
SF 2: Winner Pod 3 vs Winner Pod 2

Championship – Sunday, Nov. 19 at TBD
Winner SF 1 vs. Winner SF 2

Ticket Prices: CASH ONLY
$5 – Adults
$3 – Seniors
$3 – Students with valid school ID
FDU students, Faculty & Staff – FREE
Children Under 6 years of age - FREE

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