WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Junior forward Edney Derrick (Kumasi, Ghana/KNUST University) scored off a header in the 23^rd minute as the nationally-ranked No. 19 Monmouth University men’s soccer team defeated the College of Charleston, 1-0, Sunday afternoon on The Great Lawn. With the win, the Hawks improve to 5-1-1, while the Cougars fall to 3-4-0.

Senior captain Ryan Clark (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township) sent a beautiful ball into the 18-yard box from the midfield where Derrick redirected it inside the right post past Cougars goalkeeper Kees Heemskerk in the 23^rd minute. The Hawks outshot Charleston, 8-1, in a dominant first-half effort.

“RC has great vision and we’ve been talking to Derrick about peeling off between the center back and the outside back,” said Head Coach Robert McCourt. “He made a terrific run and I think the ball almost hit him in the head. RC’s pass was picture perfect. It was what we’ve been working on and what we’ve been talking about as a team, so it was good to see them execute it.”

The Hawks fended off several Cougars scoring chances in the second half to secure the win, the Monmouth defense’s fourth clean sheet of the year. For the game, the Hawks outshot the Cougars, 12-7, while the corner kicks were an even 4-4.

Senior goalkeeper Alex Blackburn (Natick, Mass./Natick) made two saves in posting the shutout, while Heemskerk made four saves for the College of Charleston.

The Hawks take to the road for their next three games, finishing the non-conference slate at Iona on Saturday at 2 p.m., before opening Northeast Conference play in Connecticut against Quinnipiac (Sept. 28 – 3 p.m.) and Central Connecticut State (Sept. 30 - 3 p.m.).

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