BRONX – The nationally ranked No. 10 Monroe University – Bronx men's soccer team earned its third win in as many days on Thursday by defeating Region 15 rival Rockland Community College, 9-1, at Flowers Park. The Express advance to 7-1-0 overall and 6-1-0 in Region 15 play. The Hawks drop to 2-3-1 overall and in the region.
 
Sophomore forward Chrismonor Eugene had a big match for the Express with two goals and just as many assists. In net, sophomore goalkeeper Lincoln Henwood made a save to earn the victory. Rookie netminder Dwayne Brown stopped three shots for the Express in relief.
 
"So happy to end this week with wins three days in a row," Express Head Men's Soccer Coach Jose Hernandez said. "The guys did a phenomenal job and were able to help each other out when needed. Again, I am very happy with the performance"
 
Freshman midfielder Mike Suazo opened the scoring for the Express in the 12^th minute by taking a feed from Eugene and rifling the ball into the back of the cage to put the Express up 1-0. Less than three minutes later, Eugene tallied the official match-winning goal by heading the ball into the net off a line drive kick by freshman midfielder Xcaret Gonzalez to inflate the Blue and Gold's benefit to 2-0. With just under 15 minutes remaining in the opening period, rookie defender Jonathan Lima concluded the scoring in the first half by burying his fifth goal of the year to inflate Monroe's cushion to 3-0. That was the score after 45 minutes of play. Eugene had the assist on the third goal.
 
The Express came storming out of the gate in the second half, scoring three goals in the first 5:37 of the period to take a commanding 6-0 hold. Gonzalez scored the first tally of the frame, assisted by freshman midfielder Juan Ramirez off the corner kick, just 1:20 in. And then, 2:16 seconds later, freshman defender Soumana Konate notched his fourth goal of the season. Just 2:01 after that, sophomore defender Christian Trujillo found the back of the cage off a pass by Gonzalez. 
 
Rockland got on the board during the 60^th minute as freshman forward Chukwuemeke Oduwegwu had a breakaway. His first shot was stopped by Brown but then he got the rebound and tipped it into the cage to shrink Monroe's lead to 6-1.
 
The Express responded shortly after that thanks to Eugene's second goal of the afternoon during the 69^th minute. Just over nine minutes later, Eugene found Ramirez who drilled the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net to give the Express an 8-1 advantage. That marked Eugene's seventh assist of the season which ties him with James Gallagher ('24) and current Express Assistant Coach Andres Lora ('22) for the most single-season assists in program history. 

With less than a minute to go in the contest, sophomore midfielder Krit Raj Maharjan scored the first goal of his collegiate soccer career to inflate Monroe's vantage to 9-1 which ended up being the final score. 
 
For the afternoon, the Express had the heavy advantage in shots, 41-10, including 23-5 in shots that were on target. Monroe took 11 out of the 12 corner kicks that occurred in the contest.

Freshman goalkeeper Alexander Carlos stopped 13 shots for the Hawks. 
 
It will be a Region 15 showdown with national implications on Tuesday afternoon at Flowers Park when nationally ranked No. 10 Monroe hosts No. 8 Kingsborough Community College. The key regional and national battle will begin at 3:00 p.m. "Now time to enjoy the win, relax for the weekend, and then prepare the team on Monday for a tough week," Hernandez said. 

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE UNIVERSITY
The athletic program at Monroe University encompasses a total of 31 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, the Monroe University marching band, and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, 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 Express, please visit us at www.MonroeExpress.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe Express), Twitter/X (@MonroeExpress), Instagram (@MonroeExpress), and Threads (@MonroeExpress).