Johnny Troiano starred in a dominating 6-0 win for the Rowan Men’s Soccer team against the NJCU Gothic Knights on Wednesday, Sept. 27. The sophomore scored two goals and led the team offensively as they cruised to the win, their third of the season. The Profs completely controlled the game, out-shooting the Gothic Knights 22-2.
Troiano wasn’t the only one who produced though, as Luke Yates, Gil Ferreira, Davide Caputo, and Ryan Barnes were the other goal-scorers in the game.
NJCU started the first half by playing physical, which led to Troiano getting frustrated over a call that didn’t go his way.
“Sometimes you just get hit, and you kind of just gotta get over it because if you get involved, you get cards that you can’t really afford this early in the season,” Troiano said. “So I tried to stay calm, but it definitely was a little dirty.”
The first half ended with Rowan holding a 2-0 lead, and the aforementioned Ferraira was a big contributor in the second half. The junior scored his third goal of the season at the 65:23 mark, and assisted on two goals as well, one to Troiano’s second goal of the game and one to Caputo’s second goal of the season.
“Just being unselfish,” Ferreira said. “Of course, I always want to score as many goals as I can, but if I’m not in the right place, then I’ll just give my teammates the opportunity essentially.”
Troiano and the Profs began to pull away in the second half, as they scored four more goals to seal the deal and capture the win. It was truly a team win because after every goal, everyone on the field and the entire bench would rush over to the scorer and congratulate him with some team love.
Head Coach Scott Baker had some good remarks to say about his team after the game.
“We felt like we were the better team and we thought we’d have the ball more,” Baker said. “What we were most concerned about was making sure we got numbers and to attack so we can open up spaces and get goals.”
With the win, the Rowan Profs improve to 3-1-4 and 2-0-2 at home heading into their next matchup against Rutgers-Newark on Saturday, Sept. 30, 1:00 p.m. EST. Additionally, the Profs have now won two in a row against NJCU, increasing their all-time record to 13-6 against the Gothic Knights.
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