Box Score
NEWARK, NJ—Visiting Monmouth maintained its unbeaten record with a come-from-behind 2-1 men's soccer win over NJIT in Sunday afternoon's 2009 home opener for the Highlanders on Lubetkin Field.
Monmouth, now 3-0 with previous wins over Seton Hall and Fairfield and established as one of the top Division I programs in the East, trailed by a goal with 15 minutes left, but the Hawks drew even in the 76th minute and then went ahead to stay on a goal in the 80th minute.
NJIT, which now has lost all three of its contests this season by 2-1 scores, got on the board first, as sophomore Rahim Stennett headed home a nice cross from the left from Osvaldo Perez at 18:42.
Perez, who was dangerous feeding the ball into the box from the left wing all day, advanced the ball into the attacking third and sent a clean crossing pass to Stennett, who nodded home his second goal of the season.
NJIT held onto the lead for nearly an hour of soccer, withstanding often heavy pressure from Monmouth, which is the defending regular season champion of the Northeast Conference, an honor it has achieved each year since 2005.
But the Hawks, who kept the ball in the NJIT end for most of the second half were finally rewarded when Alex Weidman, wide open near the top of the box, intercepted a clearing attempt, set himself and sent a low shot into the corner of the goal past NJIT goalkeeper Ryan Sutherland at 75:51.
Monmouth, which had lost control of some possessions in the few minutes before Weidman's equalizer, responded well to the new life and added what felt like a nearly inevitable goal barely three minutes after tying the score.
NJIT was whistled for a foul about 25 yards from the goal and to the right. RJ Allen teed up the free kick, sending it to Dan Bostock, who headed home the game-winner at 79:09.
The visitors nearly added a go-ahead goal before Bostock's game-winner. Moments after Weidman had tied the score, Ryan Clark fired a high, hard shot from straight on off of an indirect free kick that forced NJIT's Sutherland to make the save of the day, deflecting the blast over the cross bar for one of Monmouth's 12 corner kicks.
The shots and corner kicks reflected Monmouth's extreme territorial advantage, as the Hawks led in total shots, 21-9, in shots on goal, 10-2, and in corner kicks, 12-2.
NJIT keeper Sutherland made eight saves, while his Monmouth counterpart Bryan Meredith made one save in recording the victory.
“We knew coming in that Monmouth is an experienced, talented team,” said NJIT coach Pedro Lopes. “With their (championship) background they expect to win and I thought we did a good job to counter that by staying organized in the first half.
“In the second half, we fouled too much, and when a team like Monmouth gets free kicks and corners, they're dangerous. They're a good team and they showed it today.”
The Highlanders will host Manhattan in a 7 pm start Wednesday on Lubetkin Field.
