Box Score

 
NEWARK, NJ—NJIT won its third straight men's soccer game, capitalizing on a Longwood own goal early in the second overtime period for a 1-0 victory over the visiting Lancers Tuesday night in Atlantic Soccer Conference action on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium.
 
The winner came off of a free kick by junior Christian Galindo from just outside the penalty area. Galindo, who has two game-winning goals, sent a hard shot toward the left post and Longwood defender Niels Van Pelt made a diving attempt to head it clear. Instead, the shot, which appeared to be on target off of Galindo's boot, changed direction off the header and went past the Lancers' outstanding senior goalkeeper Joel Helmick for the golden goal at 102:14.
 
NJIT (4-7-2 overall, 1-0 Atlantic Soccer Conference) extended its home unbeaten streak to five straight games (two scoreless ties, followed by three wins). The three-game winning streak is a new high for NJIT men's soccer since it began Division I competition in 2004 and became a postseason-eligible Division I program in 2005. The Highlanders previously posted back-to-back wins in 2009 and did it again in 2010, when it won the second and third games of the season.
 
Longwood (6-6-1, 0-2 ASC) lost its second straight, both in conference, after winning three in a row and five of six from September 17 to October 5. The Lancers had lost, 2-1, at defending ASC champ Adelphi on October 8.
 
The final stat sheet showed Longwood with a 13-12 edge in total shots, including 8-6 in shots on goal. Longwood's Helmick finished with six saves, while his NJIT counterpart, Lars Maalen-Johansen, notched his second shutout of the year, making eight saves.
 
“That was a huge win,” said NJIT coach Cesar Markovic. “Early in the year, I thought there were times where we played very good soccer and didn't get anything to show for it. If you keep working, you're going to get a break. Tonight, we didn't play great soccer, but we were persistent and we caught a break.”
 
The break might not have been there if not for the work of Maalen-Johansen, who missed five games with a knee injury, but has returned to backstop the three-game winning streak.
 
“Lars was spectacular tonight; he was everything we'd hoped for when we brought him in,” said Markovic of the junior transfer from Norway. “When we needed him, he kept us in the game and he gave us a chance to recuperate without taking a goal.”
 
NJIT, coming off a 2-1 win over the weekend against Virginia Tech, allowed Longwood the better of the play in a scoreless first half.
 
The Highlanders didn't get off a shot in the opening 45 minutes and they appeared a step slow at times on defense in the early going.
 
Maalen-Johansen needed a point-blank stop to keep the game scoreless in the 17th minute. Longwood's Nick Surkamp, who came in having scored seven goals, carried the ball at goal and got off a low hard shot that Maalen-Johansen stopped with a sliding leg save.
 
The first-half totals showed Longwood with seven total shots, six of which were saved by Maalen-Johansen and the corner kicks were even at two apiece.
 
“I've been around long enough to expect that when you have an emotional win like we had against Virginia Tech, you can expect some emotional flatness the next game,” said Markovic, who is in his 16th year as a college head coach. “They (Longwood) were very good and they were all over us. The last 10 minutes of the first half, we started to play better. We regrouped in the locker room and in the second half, I thought we were pretty solid.”
 
NJIT outshot Longwood in the second half, 12-4, with Helmick making five saves, while Maalen-Johansen stopped a pair of shots for the Highlanders, who also had a 4-1 lead in corner kicks for the half.
 
The Highlanders got off four shots in the first 11 minutes of the second half, the most dangerous of which was a 12-yarder off the boot of Cristian Marcel that went directly at Longwood's Helmick in the 56th minute.
 
The closest chance for either team in the second half to that point was a hard shot from NJIT senior back Nico Lue Young, who ran onto the ball from 30 yards and launched a try that sailed just over the bar in the 59th minute.
 
Helmick, who was strong all night, later made a big save on a free kick from Galindo, who shot from the right side just outside the goal area and sent a curving shot to the far post, where Helmick deflected it wide in the 72nd minute.
 
Franco Gamero, the top goal scorer for NJIT on the season, made a nice run in the 86th minute and got off a strong shot that went over the crossbar from 15 yards.
 
The first overtime was uneventful, with no shots on goal for either side. Longwood had two off-target tries. There were no official shots in the second overtime, either.
 
The Highlanders will continue Atlantic Soccer Conference play on Saturday night when they visit Houston Baptist for a 7 pm (CT) game. The first conference road contest for NJIT begins a stretch run that will see the Highlanders play three of the last four games away from home. They are 1-6 away against 3-1-2 in home games.