The Montclair State University Red Hawks men’s soccer team set the tone early and dismantled Brooklyn College Bulldogs 6-0 on Monday night in their home opener of the 2026 season.
The Red Hawks scored in the third minute of the match on freshman Tyler Diaz’s first collegiate goal and held a 4-0 advantage after the first half at MSU Soccer Park.
“We moved the ball really well” Head Coach Todd Tumelty said. “I thought they [Brooklyn College] might sit back a little bit and one of the things I didn’t want our guys to do was move the ball slowly. I wanted them to move the ball with pace, switch the point of attack from side to side. We did a good job of that and that’s why the result was what it was.”
In the 13th minute, it was Montclair State junior midfielder Kevin Contreras who doubled the lead with his goal from inside the box.
Montclair State sophomore forward Tomas Monteiro needed just 24 minutes to score in his third straight match. In the 19th minute, the Jersey City native capitalized on a turnover inside the Brooklyn College box, dribbled onto his right foot and curled the ball into the far side of the net.
“Our coach’s philosophy is always set the tone, set the energy and it starts with me up top, pressing, pick which side you want to go and that was my whole goal, press, and our left back Carlos [Bedoya] always played me the ball to my feet,” forward Tomas Monteiro added. “Using the midfield, playing as a team, everyone, the wingers doing their job, it just showed today how dominant we can be when everything’s clicking.”
That made it 3-0. Ten minutes later, the Red Hawks took a corner kick that was headed by a Brooklyn College player into their own net to make it 4-0.
Brooklyn College’s goalkeeper Juan Carlos Solis Cazares made two of his 13 saves after the half hour mark, keeping his team in the match.
In the second half, the Red Hawks didn’t take their feet off the pedal. It took just two minutes into the second frame for Montclair State to score again.
Montclair State junior midfielder Logan Neno first-timed a cross on target, forcing Solis Cazares to make a brilliant reaction save. However, Brooklyn College couldn’t clear the ball and Montclair State’s senior midfielder Max Perry pounced on the rebound and scored his first goal of the season to make it 5-0.
In the 65th minute, the visiting Bulldogs got their first sniff at scoring when miscommunication between the Red Hawks goalkeeper and a defender led to a loose ball behind the goalkeeper, but before the Bulldog player could kick it into the empty net, the goalkeeper grabbed the ball.
Shortly thereafter, the Red Hawks’ sophomore forward Kyle Moore pounced on an errant pass deep in Bulldogs territory. Solis Cazares came off his line to cut off Moore’s angle and when Moore tried to dribble around him and score, he blocked the shot.
In the 78th minute, Montclair State junior midfielder and former River Dell high school player, Gabe Rodriguez scored to make it 6-0. Rodriguez’s first goal as a Red Hawk was assisted by junior forward Jayden Wesley.
“Obviously, we can kind of run a large number of guys through the game and we told the guys in the locker room [to] work as hard as you can for as long as you can and then we’ll get other guys through and that was the game plan. So I was pleased with the way they executed.”
Solis Cazares ended the match with 13 saves on 18 shots on goal, while Brooklyn College failed to register a single shot attempt.
After losing their first match of the season on the road against Vassar College, Montclair State has now pushed themselves over .500 with this win. Tumelty’s Red Hawks will take their 2-1 record into Wednesday night’s home match against Hunter College.
