Aug. 31, 2007

Box Score

NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Iona senior Bryan Oelkers scored to break a 1-1 tie with 1:24 left in the match, lifting Iona past New Jersey Institute of Technology, 2-1, in the men's soccer season opener for both teams Friday afternoon.

Oelkers, assisted by classmate Paul Racines, found himself with a clear look at the goal from the top of the penalty area and shot a hard roller that left NJIT goalkeeper Josh Osit with no chance for a save as the ball scooted inside the near goalpost.

Racines had opened the scoring just 7:47 into the contest, heading in a goal off an assist by another senior, Pasquale Abiuso,

NJIT, which lost seven times by scores of 1-0 or 2-0 in 2006, has worked hard in the offseason and preseason on fighting back if the other team scores first and the Highlanders did just that in the 2007 opener.

The Swedish combination of Gustav Warfving and Erik Magnusson teamed to pull the Highlanders even in the 26th minute. Warfving, who scored one goal as a freshman in 2006, caught Iona goalkeeper Nils Binstock off the line and hit the shot over and behind the Gael keeper. The assist was the first of his career for Magnusson, who was an all-Atlantic Soccer Conference honoree last year,

The score stayed at 1-1 for more than 63 minutes and Oelkers actually had two shots late in the second half that actually looked more dangerous than the one he ultimately scored on.

With about 23:30 left, Oelkers, on a free kick, fired a strong shot that appeared ticketed for the upper left corner of the goal, but Osit made the save of the match, flying to deflect that ball and prevent a goal.

Just past the 70-minute mark,Oelkers was denied on another free kick, as his blast from just outside the top left of the box curled around the defensive wall and beat Osit, only to have the shot rattle off the right goalpost and crossbar and somehow rebound back into the field of play, where NJIT was able to clear.

"Any time you lose, it's tough," said NJIT coach Pedro Lopes, who had a mixed reaction to the game. "We lost on what was a very easily correctable mistake, so it's something we can fix in the future.

"We had two scrimmages, but there's nothing like the first game to tell you where you stand and we saw some good things and some things we need to do better. It's always encouraging when you score a goal, especially when the other team has scored first and you answer them. Today we competed."

Lopes was also pleased with the work of his younger players, citing freshmen Oshane Moodie, Frank Carr, Pat Amato and Brian Caine as players who did good things in their college debuts.

The Highlanders have week before retuning to game action, when they will be in southern California, visiting San Diego State on the afternnon Friday, September 7, and then taking on the University of San Diego two days later. San Diego State was second in the Pac-10 conference last season and qualified for the Division I College Cup postseason field. USD has eight starters back from a team that was 10-8-1 overall and competed in the strong West Coast Conference.