ROCKVILLE, Md., September 29, 2024 – A late penalty-kick goal by Kelvin Yengbie proved to be the difference in a crucial East District matchup on Sunday, as the No. 16-ranked Monroe University Mustangs men's soccer team defeated No. 17 Montgomery College, 2-1. The Mustangs improve to 4-2 on the season with their fourth straight win, while the Raptors take their first loss of the season and fall to 8-1-2.
After Montgomery scored the equalizer with 15 minutes left the Sunday's match, Yengbie came up clutch late in the contest for Monroe. He scored at the 86:29 mark of the game on a penalty kick after a foul and yellow card on the Raptors, netting what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Mustangs in the win.
Monroe got a very quick jump on the Raptors on Sunday. In just the third minute of the game, Joao Victor Figueiredo Novais De Assis took a corner kick and found
Yotaro Furutani for his second goal of the season, giving Monroe an immediate 1-0 advantage. Neither team was able to gain an edge on the other the rest of the first half, leading to the same 1-0 score sticking at the half.
The Mustangs still had a 1-0 edge through the first 74 minutes of the contest, but the Raptors closed the gap at the 75-minute mark. Thijs Veldhorst scored off an assist from Angel Giron-Ramos, knotting things up at 1-1 with exactly 15 minutes to play. Just over 11 minutes later, Yengbie scored the penalty-kick winner for Monroe to send the Mustangs home with two big victories down in Maryland this weekend.
Alvaro Ramos had a strong night in goal for the Mustangs, making seven saves with just the one goal allowed to earn his fourth win of the season. Juan Martinez took the loss for Montgomery after taking over in the second half and allowing the game-winning goal.
Yengbie's game-winner took place on his only shot attempt of the game and was his first goal of the season. Furutani's early goal was his second and puts him in a four-way tie for the fourth-most goals on the team this year.
Sunday's matchup was the first of five games against nationally ranked opponents in Monroe's final six contests of the season. The stretch continues this coming Friday, Oct. 4, when they Mustangs host No. 15 Harcum College at Skidelsky Field. Friday's matchup is set to kick off at 2 p.m.
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE UNIVERSITY
The athletic program at Monroe University encompasses a total of 28 teams competing across nine sports. There are 20 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well the Monroe University marching band, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has seven teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at
www.MonroeUMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
Monroe Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (
@MonroeMustangs) and Instagram (
@monroemustangs).
