Behind strong offensive performances from juniors Griffin Tomas and Julian Gomez, and yet another shutout for redshirt senior Sean Murray, the Monmouth University men’s soccer team bested Delaware in Tuesday night’s contest, 4-0.
Tomas ignited the Hawks offense in the 37th minute, scoring off an assist from graduate student Jonas Lindner. The assist to Tomas was Lindner’s first in a Hawks uniform.
After stealing the ball in the 90th minute of the match, Tomas slammed the door on Delaware with his second goal of the game. Tomas successfully scored in his each of his only two shot attempts.
Gomez, who earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday afternoon, lived up to the honor of the title by scoring two goals of his own. In the 41st minute, on a feed from freshman midfielder Brett Sieg, Gomez found the back of the net from just inside the box, putting the Hawks up 2-0.
After 31 scoreless minutes, Gomez delivered his second goal of the game, assisted by Junior Forward Ben Zakowski and Freshman midfielder Jonas Lyshoj. Gomez has now scored in nine consecutive games dating back as early as last spring. Racking up 25 points in 24 career games, Gomez has cemented his spot in the Hawks offense.
In addition to the Player of the Week honor, Gomez was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week. Gomez had a goal and two assists against out of conference St. Francis Brooklyn, securing his spot on the Team of the Week.
“I’m happy we continue to score on our chances,” said Monmouth Hawks Head Coach Robert McCourt. The Hawks attempted 12 shots in the 90 minutes of play, six of which were on goal, resulting in four total scores.
Murray, the Hawks goalkeeper, gained recognition of his own after being named MAAC Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week on Monday afternoon. Following a four save performance, resulting in a shutout against St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, Sept. 4th, Murray received the honors. On Tuesday at Delaware, he too lived up to the title by stopping four shot attempts and recording his second consecutive shutout. “Murray was fantastic again in goal” said McCourt.
“It was very satisfying to go on the road and put together a complete performance against a strong program like Delaware,” said Murray. “e defended very well as a unit and scored some fantastic goals so it was great to get the reward for all the work we put in up to this point.”
Murray lodged his ninth shutout and now has 205 saves in his career as a Hawk. Following a strong Junior campaign in 2020, which earned Murray MAAC Co-Goalkeeper of the Year and All-MAAC Team honors, the Hawks continue to reap the rewards of strong goalkeeping in 2021.
“It was a very committed performance by the boys tonight,” said McCourt, “Delaware is a strong program in the CAA, so this is a nice win for us.” With the victory in Tuesday nights match, the Hawks improve to 2-0-1 on the season.
Following a double overtime 1-0 loss at UConn last Saturday, the Hawks will travel to Fairfield, Connecticut on Wednesday to contest Sacred Heart at 3:00 p.m.. The Hawks will return to Hesse Field on the Great Lawn on Saturday, Sept. 18. To stay up to date with the team, follow @MonmouthSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
