Lakewood, N.J.- After almost 16 months, the wait has finally ended and a new era officially is underway as the Georgian Court University men's soccer squad made its debut in dynamic fashion Friday afternoon with a 3-0 blanking of visiting East Stroudsburg University on Investors Savings Bank Field.

GCU (1-0) lit up the scoreboard for the first time 8:33 into the first half when Michael Clarke drilled home a Ben Vergara feed, bringing a crowd of 275 to its feet. Clarke nailed a Sebastian Gostynski pass off the left post and in the net less than eight minutes later (16:22) for his second tally.

Vegara, a Toms River, N.J. native and the first student-athlete to commit to the program back in January, provided a cheeky chip into the left front corner for his first goal as a Lion at 42:21. Edward Glover provided the assist.

Rylan Gentil collected five saves off 14 East Stroudsburg shots to earn the complete-game shutout for his first win as a Lion. Callum Hampson (So.-Tunbridge Wells, England) yielded three goals and tallied five saves on 13 GCU shots in the losing effort for the Warriors (0-1).

Georgian Court returns to the pitch Sunday afternoon when the Lions host the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown at 1:00 p.m.