Monroe boys soccer takes down St. Joseph
Senior forward Matt Mischler recorded a hat trick, and junior forward Mathew Hoyt added one goal and two assists as the Falcons improved to 6-0 with a 4-2 victory over Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division foe St. Joseph (2-2-2).
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Claiming that the team has started slow in its last couple of contests, Monroe didn't show it Thursday, scoring just seven minutes into the game when Hoyt took the ball downfield and sent a shot wide across the goal that snuck into the upper left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
"We've been a little slow starting the last few games," MacKenzie said. "These next five games are a huge stretch for us, so it was important that we get that mentality of coming and scoring first."
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The Falcons kept pressing, and 18 minutes later Mischler scored his first of the day on an assist from Hoyt to take a 2-0 lead. The duo connected again with 3:50 left in the first half as Monroe headed to halftime with a 3-0 lead.
"We knew (Nick) Cruz was very good, they're very technical usually," MacKenzie said of St. Joseph. "We knew that we would have an advantage with a couple of our attackers, and hopefully force them to adjust and it worked out well for us in the first half, it's some things that we've been working on."
Monroe capped its scoring at the start of the second half when Mischler was awarded a penalty kick and he sent it past St. Joseph goalie Christian Owens for a 4-0 advantage. St. Joe's climbed onto the board about 10 minutes later when Matt Pinho laced a shot from about 20 yards out that Monroe goalie Nick Rios couldn't handle. Rios desperately tried for the save, but Antonio Oliveira kicked the rebound in to make sure the goal counted.
With about five minutes remaining, Cruz scored on an assist from Dan DiSarro for the 4-2 final.
Hoyt and Mischler, who leads the team with 10 goals, credited their victory to the fact that the attack has been doing a great job of getting the ball up to the forwards, and the movement in the midfield has been key to starting the season 6-0. The defense also has been strong, allowing seven goals so far this season.
"Our defense has been absolutely solid this season, from the keeper, center backs, all the outside backs, they've kept us in our games and allowed us to get up top and score," Mischler said. "Making runs off the center forwards has definitely helped us, and packing up in the midfield, we did a lot better than we have in the previous few games."
The Falcons' next four games come against Red Division opponents New Brunswick, South Brunswick, East Brunswick and Old Bridge, and MacKenzie is confident that his team will be able to make the adjustments in order to add to the win column.
"We do a good job of penetrating, getting forward, getting numbers forward, putting pressure on their backs, which starts opening up the midfield for us, and once the midfield's open a little bit then we can control the game," MacKenzie said. "We're doing a good job translating what we're doing in training to games. We more so have to adjust to who we're playing, and try to train for that, and our guys have been doing a good job of morphing themselves into each game."
Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego