Box Score
NEWARK, NJ - Kori Washington scored a breakaway goal in the sixth minute of the second overtime, lifting NJIT to a thrilling come-from-behind 2-1 win over visiting Drexel in the Highlanders' 2009 home opener Friday night on Lubetkin Field.
Washington's golden goal secured NJIT's first victory of the season after an 0-2 start on the road. Drexel is 0-3 in the young season.
NJIT had plenty of late heroics, as fifth-year senior Briana Morales scored unassisted with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation to pull the Highlanders even on the scoreboard at 1-1. And junior goalkeeper Sadie Mele kept the game alive for the home team in the first overtime period, stopping a penalty kick by Drexel's Jenna Lindsay in the 97th minute.
Friday night's win was likely the best for the Highlanders in three-plus seasons at the Division I level and it was their first victory in five tries all-time vs. Drexel. The schools first met in 2005, when NJIT was still competing at the Division II level and Drexel was the only DI team on the schedule. The Dragons won then, 6-0, and followed with a 2-0 win in 2006 when the Highlanders played their first full Division I slate. Drexel was a 1-0 winner and a 3-0 victor last season.
The 2009 game was fairly even territorially in the first half (NJIT had an 8-7 edge in shots, 6-3 in shots on goal). But the Dragons had a decided advantage in good opportunities, as the NJIT defenders had difficulty containing Lindsay early on. The sophomore got free wide against the NJIT backs and used her superior quickness to get two open shots that hit posts in the first 10 minutes.
Lindsay and Drexel finally broke through in the 13th minute when Juliana Speroni's pass from midfield created a breakaway to set up Lindsay's tally from 15 yards out.
Drexel had two more good chances later in the first half, as Courtney Wylie hit a post in the 30th minute and moments later Wylie got a another shot off a scramble in front that forced Mele to make a point blank stop.
The visitors had a 6-1 advantage in second-half shots, but that was a bit deceptive since neither goalkeeper had to make a save in the second 45 minutes.
NJIT's only shot of the period came on its first goal of the match and its first-ever score against Drexel. The Highlanders were applying pressure in the Drexel goal area when the Dragon defense attempted to clear the ball toward midfield. However, Morales intercepted the clearing try at the top of the box and one-timed it into left side of the goal at 82:21, unassisted.
Drexel, which outshot the Highlanders in the two overtime periods by a combined 5-1, nearly ended it the evening when NJIT committed a foul in the penalty area, setting up a penalty kick for Lindsay at 96:49. Lindsay shot the ball straight on, with Mele holding her ground and standing straight up to make the chest-high save.
The decisive goal came at 105:21, when Highlander freshman Amanda Dotten sent a lead pass out of midfield ahead to Washington, who used the extra gear she has to run onto the ball free of the defense, leaving nothing but 25 yards of green between her and Drexel goalkeeper Nicole Sinclair.
With Washington bearing down on goal, a Drexel defender made a last-ditch effort to pull her down from behind in the penalty area. Referee Pawel Golenia correctly allowed play to continue and Washington got off the shot on her way to the turf, putting it past Sinclair for the game-winner from about 12 yards away.
NJIT, which began a stretch that will see it play seven of eight matches at home, is off until next Friday when it hosts Saint Peter's in another 7 pm contest.
