(November 10, 2007) - Newark, NJ-The Castleton State College men's soccer team fell in the opening round of the NCAA National Tournament 2-0 to the #7 New Jersey City University Gothic Knights in the 2007 NCAA Division III Tournament First Round, hosted by New York University Saturday night at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Lubetkin Field. The loss ends Castleton's season at 13-8-1. The game was played on a very cold night in North Jersey where temperatures hovered near the upper 30s. With the win, NJCU (17-4-1), ranked seventh nationally by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, tied the single-season record for victories for the third year in a row and will face Hamilton College (10-4-3) on Sunday, November 11 at 7 p.m. in the NCAA Second Round with a berth in the Sweet 16 at stake.

Junior center midfielder Jonathan Bilbao scored twice—once in each half—off assists from Cristhian Acuna and Edison Bilbao.

Both teams had opportunities in the first-half, but it was NJCU that controlled play early on. After several quality opportunities, Acuna won the ball on the right wing, beat a defender, and dribbled along the right endline. From there, he aired out a perfect cross into the box. Bilbao pinpointed a header inside the left post at 29:59.

In the second half, NJCU outshot Castleton, 12-6, and again found the net as all three of its First-Team All-NJAC performers contributed to a 2-0 lead. Acuna lofted a cross from the left corner and Edison Bilbao fired a one-timer that was blocked in the goalmouth. But Jonathan Bilbao collected the rebound from 10 yards out on the right side and uncorked a shot into the left side of the net at 59:59 for his 12th goal of the year.

Freshman, Andre Viola made four saves, including two sensational back-to-back leaping stops within five seconds of each other in the 71st minute, to thwart Castleton junior forward Ryan Hahn, the NAC Player of the Year, and junior forward Gerrit Marino. Other than those two chances, the Spartans best other opportunity came at 85:36 when sophomore forward Jon Vogt had a shot that hit the left post before being cleared away by the Gothic Knight defense.

In defeat, Castleton junior keeper Mike Anthony finished with seven saves, including several acrobatic stops, to keep his team in the contest. Castleton also had one team save. [Box Score]

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