Bishop men capture NJCU Championship, Lue named MVP

Jersey City, NJ - Sophomore Kevin Lue scored three second half goals and freshman Philip Fritshmann headed home the gamewinner in the 84th minute to lead the North Carolina Wesleyan men’s soccer team to a come-from-behind 4-3 win over host New Jersey City in the championship game of the 4th annual Liberty Cup.  All four assists were credited to freshman Marco Kirsch.  The Bishops, ranked 6th nationally by D3Kicks.com and 18th by the NSCAA, defeated Drew University by a 3-2 score on Saturday and finished the tournament 2-0.  Captains Jason Bottani and Danny Jones (pictured) accepted Wesleyan’s second tournament trophy in as many weeks. Lue was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after recording four goals and an assist in the two games.

NJCU managed a 1-0 lead at the break when Shawn McCormick headed in a free kick just 11 seconds before intermission.  The Gothic Knights up their lead to 2-0 just 2:01 into the second period on a Marcelo Carpio goal.  Lue, however, made it a 2-1 game at 56:24 when his header slipped inside the left post off a perfect Marco Kirsch corner kick from the right. 

After the double red-card at 59:57, NJCU was awarded a free kick from the top of the box, and Christian Acuna drilled a bending low shot inside the right post at 59:59 for a 3-1 Knight margin; but with NJCU’s center midfielder out of the game, the Bishops took advantage, scoring two goals in a span of 51 seconds to tie the game.

At 62:51, Lue took another Kirsch pass and proceed to beat the NJCU keeper in a 1-on-1 situation. The Bishops tied the game at 63:42 as Lue completed his second hat trick of the season.  Fritschmann scored the eventual winner at 83:26 when his headed home yet another Kirsch corner.

NC Wesleyan freshman keeper Kevin Quicker made four saves to preserve the win, including stopping a penalty kick by Edison Bilbao at 40:26.  Andre Viola stopped five shots for the Knights en route to the loss.

Against Drew, senior Alimamy Kargbo netted the eventual gamewinner in the 82nd minute, unassisted.  Jones and Lue also recorded scores, while Kirsch added two assists.  He now has eight in four games.

Lue, Kirsch, Fritschmann, Jones, and sophomore Robert Ivanovich all were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Bishops, who are now 4-0-0 to start the season.

Wesleyan returns to action on Wednesday when they travel to nearby Division II rival Barton College for a 7:00 p.m. match-up with the Bulldogs.