Sean Pauls Scores Twice at Moravian, Cullen Brothers Lead Team to Victory on Sunday
Men’s Soccer picked up right where they left off last season, winning both games on a Pennslyvania roadtrip. On Friday, they defeated Moravian 4-0 and edged out Muhlenberg 2-1 the next day.
In the Moravian game, a pair of Sean Pauls’ goals pushed the MSU lead to 3-0 after co-captain Mike Cullen scored in the twenty-second minute. MSU was also led by strong playing in the net by Teddy Ritter, who, along with a few others, were subbed out in the final minutes of the game. The Red Hawks controlled many of the statistical aspects of the game, including a 23-3 shots advantage.
Michael Cullen scored one goal in each of MSU’s wins over the weekend.
Pauls scored two goals in the victory against Moravian Saturday.
On Sunday at Muhlenberg, Montclair had a bit of a tougher challenge. After Cullen scored the first goal of the game, the Mules answered back 15 minutes later to even up the game at 1-1. Throughout the match, the teams traded shots, fouls and yellow cards along the way. It wasn’t until co-captain Joe Cullen had a direct kick in the 74th minute and connected.
“It was a direct free kick from about 22 yards out or so that I shot over the wall to the near post,” said Cullen. “I just knew from that distance it was a great scoring opportunity, and with the game tied up, I just tried to do my best with it.”
The Mules tried to recover, but it was too late as the defense blocked shots and kept the home team from recovering.
This is the 29th straight regular season game MSU has won. The last time they lost was in 2007 against New Jersey City University.
“Over the past several years this program has become one of the best in the nation, and we’re carrying on with that success,” said Michael Cullen. “We undoubtedly lost key players, but tradition doesn’t graduate. We’ve created a program that consistently brings in good players, is always well coached and wins ball games.”
“We’ve gotten off to a good start and are heading where we want to be,” said Joe Cullen. “Our continuing success is because of our coaching staff, all the returning players and a great group of incoming players. We’ve all been here since mid-August every day putting in the work and preparing for the season.”
Next up for the Red Hawks is a trip out west, as they play Whitman College (WA) in Colorado Springs, and Colorado College.
“This trip to Colorado will be a good test for our team,” said Mike. “It’s not easy to go on the road against tough opponents and get a good result. Hopefully this trip will serve as valuable tough away-game experience that we will certainly need later on this season.”
For more information on the MSU men’s soccer team, log on to www.montclair.edu/athletics.
