Kean Men’s Soccer Completes Season with Top 64 Divison-III Finish

By Dorian Alerte | Published by December 23, 2021

The Kean crowd stood in silence as freshman David Garcia lined up to take the final penalty kick. He placed the ball down, stepped back, and began taking small strides towards the goal. With a single motion, Garcia kicked the ball to the right of Rowan University Profs goalkeeper James Weinberg.

Ball game.

Weinberg guessed the right direction but was not able to keep the ball from entering the net. Garcia’s kick caused the crowd to erupt as they rushed the field, along with his teammates.

With this win, Kean captured their first New Jersey Athletic Conference title in 11 seasons.

“Ever since the start of the season, they gave me trust,” Garcia said. “I felt the love since I’m a freshman. They always told me that I’m a great player. Even if I were to miss, I know they have my back. I’m thankful to God to give us this opportunity and I’m just happy. I want to celebrate with the team because it was a team effort.”

This victory also gave Head Coach Peter-John Falloon his first NJAC title during his five-year career at Kean. He believes that his team gave their all in what ended up being their second penalty shoot-out in two consecutive games.

“It’s a great feeling,” Falloon said. “We coach to win and to get the trophy. When you get it, it’s an unexplainable feeling.”

Both teams played a hard-fought 90-minutes scoreless game. Then, two 10-minute equally as competitive minutes were played as overtime periods.  Neither team was able to put a goal on the board. Freshman goalkeeper Dominic Ridge obtained five saves in regulation and continued his performance into the penalty shootout.

“When you have a goalkeeper like Dominic Ridge, it makes the game 10 times easier,” Falloon said. “I told the guys at the end of full time, ‘don’t worry, we have this one.’”

The Profs and Cougars both scored on their first penalty kicks. Then Rowan took the lead after a made penalty kick from Chad Yates and a save from Weinberg. Kean would tie the penalty shootout at two apiece after a miss from Jay Vandermark of the Profs and a made kick from Sophomore Santi Alzate. Dominic Ridge would block the next kick taken by the Profs’ Junior Miranda and junior Shaq Bryan would give the Cougars the lead with a kick of his own.

When Bryan finished celebrating his made kick, he ran to Ridge to fire him up for the final set of penalty kicks.

“He told me it was all in our hands,” Ridge said. “It was a team thing and we all have to step up to the plate and we all did, so I’m happy.”

Luke Yates for Rowan would tie the shootout at three until Garcia would nail the game-winning kick, giving the Cougars the NJAC championship, and sending them to the NCAA Division-III tournament.

The following Saturday, Nov. 13, the Cougars would play the  Gettysburg College Bullets in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Cortland, New York. They came away with a 3-1 victory with two goals scored by freshman midfielder Nikolaous Theoudoulidis and one from sophomore forward Sadeiki Roberts.

Following their first-round victory, the Cougars would then lose in a 3-1 loss to SUNY Cortland the next day, completing their season.

“They should be proud of themselves,” Falloon said. “They overachieved for a young team and they must look forward to building for next year so that they can go even further.”

Despite the loss, Falloon sees a lot of potential in his team to build for their season next fall.

“I’m looking forward to defending the NJAC championship,” Falloon said. “That’s why you play- to win.”

Falloon will return next season with a very young team, headed by freshman goalkeeper Dominic Ridge.

“He’s my goalkeeper of the year,” Falloon said. “He’s played way higher than his class. He played like a senior.”

Ridge, still only a freshman, plans to continue his growth as a goalkeeper and player for the men’s soccer team.

“My hard work has paid off and I’m only starting,” Ridge said. “I still have a long time to go.”

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