Box score

TEANECK, NJ—Sophomore Jonathan Gonzalez found the back of the net with just over a minute left in the first overtime period, sending Fairleigh Dickinson to a 2-1 victory against visiting NJIT in the men's soccer season opener for both teams.

 

Gonzalez finished off a corner kick by Anders Vest-Hansen to close out the win for FDU, which was picked to finish second in the Northeast Conference coaches' preseason poll.

 

Each team scored in the first half and the 1-1 deadlock remained through the second half and into overtime before Gonzalez struck the game-winner at 98:46.

 

The Knights got on the board first, with Antony Moore finishing a crossing pass from Liam Cahill at 17:55.

 

FDU maintained a solid edge in possession and in territory for much of the half, before NJIT got the equalizer on an opportunistic defensive play and spectacular shot from senior Luis Granizo just 3:15 before halftime.

 

Both goalkeepers were strong, as junior transfer Lars Maalen-Johansen made seven stops in his NJIT debut. The seventh, the save of the night, saw him make a diving deflection to tip a dangerous shot over the net, setting up the corner kick that ended up generating FDU's game-winning goal.

 

Jacob Lissek picked up three saves to earn the win in goal for the Knights, who held a 21-8 edge in total shots, including 9-4 in shots on goal. FDU also held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.

 

Neither team produced a significant scoring threat in the opening 15 minutes, but FDU's Moore, a junior transfer playing his first game for the Knights, got open on the doorstep only to chip the ball high on a nice feed into the box in the 16th minute.

 

By that time, the Knights were finding openings in their attacking third and Moore, who had misfired moments earlier, made no mistake the next time, scoring from about eight yards away on a crossing feed into the goal area from left wing by Cahill.

 

FDU controlled play for much of the rest of the first half, reflected in its decided 10-3 advantage in shots over the opening 45 minutes.

 

Still, the Highlanders, who had difficulty connecting passes for good shots even when they had the better of the play, cashed in a rare opportunity that was all the work of Granizo.

 

The Knights, whose attack had subsided since the minutes before and after the goal, were attempting to clear the ball out of the back when Granizo made an interception outside the top of the box and in an instant fired a shoulder-high rocket from 20 yards away inside the left post from straight on at 41:45.

 

NJIT, which had started slowly despite the steady urging on the sidelines from coach Cesar Markovic, who directed the Highlanders in official competition for the first time, was fortunate to enter halftime with a 1-1 tie.

 

But NJIT, after its halftime meeting with the coach, showed more purpose and aggressiveness for all 45 minutes of the second half and actually had the best scoring chance for either team in the period.

 

The strongest stretch of the game for the Highlanders was the last 15 to 20 minutes and they came up tantalizingly short of a would-be winner in the 86th minute. Senior Nico Lue Young, who did not start, but who helped stabilize the defense as one of a handful of first-half subs, sent a beautiful lead pass out of the back, finding Emeka Nwachukwu in stride for a breakaway.

 

Carrying the ball toward goal, the speedy Nwachukwu shot from about 10 yards out, but a trailing FDU defender, sliding from behind, got enough of his toe on the ball to deflect Nwachukwu's shot wide of the goal over the end line for an NJIT corner kick.

 

The Highlanders continued to apply pressure down to the final second of regulation. However, like a boxer who goes for a knockout in the late rounds, but doesn't succeed, NJIT appeared spent once overtime arrived on the warm, extremely humid night.

 

FDU, pinned in its own end down the stretch in regulation, outshot the Highlanders in the extra time, 5-1. The fourth shot was a point-blank header from Moore that forced Maalen-Johansen, who is 6-foot-6, to leave his feet and extend his body in order to tip the shot over the crossbar.

 

The ensuing FDU corner kick, from the left corner, found Gonzalez at the far post, where he won the game on a low volley from in close.

 

“We didn't play well, necessarily,” commented Markovic. “But we battled and gave ourselves the opportunity to win late (in regulation). We're capable of playing better than we did tonight, but we found some things we need to work on and also some things to build on. We will be ready on September 1 (the 7 pm home opener vs. UAlbany on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium).”