Box Score

NEWARK, NJ—In a back-and-forth game that saw three different leads and three ties, it was a 3-3 tie after 110 minutes for host NJIT and visiting Saint Joseph's Wednesday in men's soccer on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
 
Saint Joseph's (2-3-5) scored first, in the 26th minute, but NJIT (4-6-2) rallied for two goals in the last 12 minutes of the opening half for a 2-1 lead at the break. The Hawks evened the score at 52:23 and the tie held until the 76th minute, when the visitors converted a penalty kick to take a 3-2 lead. However, that advantage lasted barely two minutes, when the Highlanders came back to tie at 77:36. The teams played 32 more minutes, but the scoring was over for the night.
 
Each of the game's six goals were scored by different players.
 
Mike Glazer, Alex Critzos, and Jake Nelson scored for the Hawks, beginning with Glazer's goal, his first of the year on a 35-yard tracer at 25:08. Critzos netted his second of the season, assisted by Pat McGlynn, to tie the score at two goals apiece. And Jake Nelson converted the penalty kick for a 3-2 lead and his fourth goal of the season
 
NJIT's first-half goals were scored, unassisted, by Jimmy Myers and Marko Drljic, while Tommy Osipitan scored the tying goal on an assist by Drljic with less than 13 minutes left in regulation.
 
David Tuchinsky made three stops for NJIT, which allowed more than two goals in a game for the first time this season. His counterpart for the visitors from Philadelphia, senior Andrew D'Ottavi, made five saves, including one in the 97th minute that ultimately enabled the Hawks to leave with a tie.
 
In addition to the tie on the scoreboard, the shots were close, 17-15 for NJIT overall, including 8-6 in shots-on-goal. Saint Joe's had a 6-5 lead in corner kicks, 3-1 in overtime.
 
"In the first half, I thought (Saint Joseph's) gave us some chances in the final third and we capitalized," said NJIT coach Didier Orellana, whose team remains unbeaten at home (2-0-1) and completes its 2013  games against teams from the Atlantic 10 Conference with a 3-0-1 record. "In the second half, I thought we were the team that lost focus and handed them too many chances. And they're a mature, solid team, so they capitalized.
 
"I was disappointed that we weren't able to protect the lead, but then I thought we showed character by coming back and tying the score after we went down a goal with less than 15 minutes left."
 
Saint Joseph's drew first blood on Glazer's rocket from 35 yards out that went untouched inside the right post in the 26th minute.
 
The Highlanders pulled even eight minutes later on a goal grown from a combination of persistence and composure. Philipp Hannemann started the flurry with a header that was parried away, but not controlled, by the Saint Joe's keeper, D'Ottavi. Myers got the rebound for NJIT, but his back-heel try was stopped, but again, not controlled by D'Ottavi. On the team's third try and his own second, Myers calmly tapped the final rebound home left- footed. 
 
NJIT went ahead at 38:28 when a poorly-marked Drljic took advantage of an apparent miscommunication between D'Ottavi and his defense, kicking the ball into the goal from 10 yards away. The goal was Drljic's team-best fourth of the year.
 
The Hawks leveled the score again in the 53rd minute. McGlynn sent a long pass out of midfield into the top left corner of the box, where Critzos was onside and used a touch to get a step on the defense. Tuchinsky came off his line to cut off the angle, but Critzos, falling to the ground, stretched and got off a shot past a diving Tuchinsky into the open net for the tying goal.
 
The Hawks surged back ahead on Nelson's penalty kick at 75:26. The pk was awarded when Eric Jordan got the ball alone in the box and then was taken down when he and an NJIT defender, attempting to recover, got their legs tangled.
 
Osipitan equalized for NJIT once again at 77:36 on a three-yard header at the far post by Osipitan, who raised his goals total to three after converting a cross from right-to-left across the goalmouth from Drljic, whose three assists are team-high.
 
The Highlanders had a terrific chance for a game-winner in the 97th minute, when they strung together two passes that found Stephen McGeever open from 12 yards. But D'Ottavi took advantage of McGeever's momentary indecision over when to shoot and made a sprawling save to keep the game going.
 
NJIT returns to action on Saturday with a 4 pm home game vs. St. Francis Brooklyn on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.  St. Francis comes in ranked second in the NSCAA/Continental Tire North Atlantic Region coaches' poll. The highest rating in SFC program history comes with the Terriers riding a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1). Both of their losses have been to National Top 25 teams (UConn and UMBC) and they played a 0-0 double-overtime tie against Saint Joseph's on September 26.