LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Led by goals from sophomore Julian Gomez and senior Sebastian Rodriguez, the sixth-seeded Monmouth University men defeated No. 2 Rider University to advance to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game, 2-0, Wednesday night.

The Hawks (4-2-1) will face top-seeded Quinnipiac University for the MAAC title Saturday.

“Today was a total team effort once again,” Monmouth head coach Robert McCourt said. “Playing six of our eight games on the road has been difficult, but this group is totally resilient and committed to the Monmouth jersey. We are excited to play in another final.”

Seven minutes into the match Gomez took a feed from sophomore Ben Zakowski and found the back of the net exactly 7:00 into the game.

In the 51st minute, Zakowski poked a ball into open space where Rodriguez ran up and placed it inside the right post for a 2-0 advantage.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Sean Murray registered his third shutout of the season, making six saves.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.