NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Monroe Mustangs men’s soccer team got a game-winning goal with just minutes left in the game on Saturday night to take control of their conference. Tied 1-1 as regulation time was winding down, sophomore Tarek Beckles knocked one past the keeper from 25-feet out on the right side to give Monroe a hard-fought win over ASA at Aviation Field in Brooklyn. The victory gives the 17th-ranked Monroe an 8-3 season record and also an automatic berth in the Region final. They’ll face the winner of ASA/Globe on November 1 on their home field at City Park in New Rochelle.
“This was a big one, for sure,” said Coach Marcus Dibernardo. “We’ve been banged up a bit and to come away against a good team in the fashion that we did with a tie-braker at the end of the game, says a lot about what this team is made of.”
The match was scoreless going into the halftime, though Monroe did have a number of shots on goal that didn’t click.
In the 49th minute freshman Lucas Santos got Monroe on the board with his sixth goal of the season.
ASA tied it up in the 62nd minute and that set up Beckles’ heroic moment in the 85th minute.
Monroe outshot the Avengers 14-2 with shots on goal.