Freehold Township High School graduate Ryan Clark scored twice in the second half to lift the Monmouth University soccer team to a 2-1 win over Princeton University on Sept. 25 in West Long Branch.
With the win, the Hawks completed the non-conference portion of their 2011 schedule at 6-2-0.
The Tigers fell to 1-4-1.
“I thought we had a flat start, but we showed some character and finished strong,” Monmouth coach Robert McCourt said in a press release. “We came out aggressive in the second half and created a few good chances early on. We also did a very good job defensively of defending their long throws. We went down a man and then a goal, then came back to win the game. The boys showed a lot of character in this win. We are excited to get the Northeast Conference portion of our schedule under way.” The Hawks trailed 1-0 and were down a man (red card) when Clark, a junior midfielder, unleashed a low shot from 30 yards directly in front of the Princeton net. The shot took a hop that skidded through the legs of goalkeeper Max Gallin to tie the game, 1-1, in the 68th minute.
In the 81st minute, Clark struck again, this time off a free kick. Setting up just outside the right corner of the box, Clark bent a shot over a wall of defenders and inside the near post into the upper corner.
The Hawks outshot the Tigers, 12-9, while Princeton took six corner kicks to Monmouth’s four. Monmouth’s Alex Blackburn made two saves in net to earn his sixth win.
Gallin made three saves in defeat for the Tigers.
Monmouth will begin NEC play on Sept. 30 when the Hawks host Long Island University at 3 p.m.