Rutherford, NJ – The No. 8th Ranked Golden Falcons secured its second straight shutout to open the 2025 season, defeating Shepherd 2–0 on Sunday afternoon. With this win, Coach Levine now sits at fifty-five wins in his career.
The now 2-0 Golden Falcons, wasted little time grabbing control of the match. In just the second minute, Ayato Kaneko scored his first goal of the year off an assist from Keiji Sugiura to give Felician the early lead. Less than 10 minutes later, Erick Aguiar doubled the advantage in the twelfth minute with a making it 2–0.
From there, Felician controlled much of the possession and tempo, firing eighteen shots with six on target. The Golden Falcons generated steady pressure, creating seven corner kicks and applying a ton of pressure on both the Rams defenders, and goalkeeper.
On the defensive end, Felician was organized and disciplined, limiting Shepherd to nine shots, five of which were handled by goalkeeper Mathias Kristoffersen. The senior collected three saves in the first half and two more after the break to post his second clean sheet in as many matches.
With two wins under their belt in their opening week of action, the Golden Falcons will look to build off of their impressive start as they host Bloomsburg in a 2024 NCAA Tournament rematch.
Man of the Match: Ayato Kaneko
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