Box score
BROOKLYN, NY - Angel Gomez scored twice and Nils Warfving added another goal in their NJIT men's soccer debut, but the Highlanders fell at Long Island University, 4-3, in overtime, Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
Junior Nik Conklin, who opened the game by staking LIU to a 1-0 lead in the second minute, provided the game-winner on a breakaway off of a counterattack late in the first overtime period to secure the victory for the Blackbirds.
The Highlanders rebounded from the early deficit to claim the lead on a pair of goals within 27 seconds of each other. The first, at 27:23, came from Gomez with an assist from Papis Ciss. The second was scored by Warfving, with an assist from Rahim Stennett, and lifted NJIT into a 2-1 lead it would hold for more than 35 minutes in the record-setting heat.
Gomez is a 6-foot-3 junior transfer from Spain and Missouri Valley College and Warfving is a freshman from Sweden. He is the younger brother of 2010 NJIT graduate Gustav Warfving, who was a Highlander the previous four seasons.
“LIU put a lot of balls in the box and they beat us to the ball on their goals,” said NJIT coach Pedro Lopes. “Before we got our two goals, we had two very good chances but didn't score. We kept our composure and kept knocking on the door and we eventually found Angel who took a great shot to the far post.”
The home team broke through to tie and then retake the lead on a goal in the 62nd minute by Jakeem Johnson, followed by a tally from Juan Lanza at 78:16. Rob Schroback assisted on the Johnson goal and Steve Jakubowski, who had assisted on the game's first goal, picked up his second assist of the night on the Lanza goal. Craig Stant also assisted on the go-ahead goal.
NJIT, despite creating a lot of opportunities after falling behind a second time, appeared headed for defeat in regulation. But Gomez kept the Highlanders' hopes alive with a tying goal just 43 seconds shy of what would have been the final whistle. Yet another newcomer, Emeka Nwachukwu, a junior transfer from London, England and Queensborough (NY) Community College, assisted on the late goal for the Highlanders.
The Highlanders kept their territorial advantage into the overtime period, but could not put the ball in the net. Instead, NJIT fell when Conklin got a breakaway and scored after receiving a pass from Johnson, who had scored the Blackbirds' second goal.
“We had two opportunities in overtime; were controlling the ball, but (LIU) kicked the ball over the defense,” reported Lopes. “We were flat-footed for a second after we had been playing in their end so much. Then our keeper got caught in no man's land and LIU got the winning goal.”
Sophomore John Connolly got the win in goal for the Blackbirds, making four saves. NJIT freshman John Ricketti made one save in his college debut.
The final statistics showed Long Island with a 14-11 advantage in overall shots, while the shots on goal were even at seven apiece.
“You never want to lose,” said Lopes. “But there were positives for us. We came back in a tough place to play. The new guys had an impact and we created plenty of chances.
“I think the good things we saw outweighed the bad things and we can correct the bad things. A lot of the mistakes were the kind teams make in early in the season rather than late and we'll start working on fixing them in our next practice in preparation for Saturday (7 pm at home vs. Army on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium).”
