Box Score


KINGSTON, RI—Marko Drljic drilled a 25-yard free kick through traffic for the only goal of the night in the 33rd minute, as the visiting NJIT men topped Rhode Island, 1-0, Friday night at the URI Soccer Complex.
 
Friday's result saw NJIT inch closer to the .500 mark, at 4-5-1, as the Highlanders won on the road for the second time this week (won at Rider, 2-1, on Wednesday afternoon).
 
URI, which has played in the NCAA Division I Tournament 11 times, but not since 2006, drops to 1-6 in a rebuilding season under new head coach Gareth Elliott, a former star for the Rams, who led them into two NCAA Tournaments as a player, including the Sweet 16 in 2000.
 
NJIT's Drljic, a junior from Slovenia, has terrific technical skill and nowhere is that more evident than in his ability to make precision passes or take dangerous shots off of free kicks. On Friday, he scored his team-leading third goal with a guided missile that sailed 25 yards from his foot through the crowded area in front of the goal and into the back of the net at 32:37.
 
Each team finished with five shots on goal in the match, while the home team had a 19-13 lead in total shots. NJIT held a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.
 
NJIT freshman David Tuchinsky picked up his second shutout and NJIT's third of the season with five saves. Since taking over as NJIT's keeper with a scoreless second half on September 11 in a 1-0 loss at Fairleigh Dickinson, ranked #22 nationally at the time, Tuchinsky has a 0.91goals against average in six games (five starts).
 
Tuchinsky's counterpart, URI sophomore Thomas Spenser, made four saves and allowed the one goal on Drljic's free kick.
 
NJIT, which entered the week 0-5-1 away from home (0-4-1 away and 0-1 neutral) before winning at Rider and Rhode Island, wraps up a stretch of five consecutive games away from home when it visits Smithfield, RI, for a match at Bryant in a 1 pm start.
 
Every NJIT game but two, a 1-1 tie at VMI and 3-0 home win vs. St. Bonaventure on September 15, has been decided by a one-goal margin. With Friday's 1-0 win over Rhode Island, the Highlanders have three one-goal wins and all five losses have been by a single goal.
 
In a sidebar to Friday's game, Elliott, URI's head coach began a domino effect that impacted his own career as well of that of NJIT's new head man, Didier Orellana.
 
Earlier this year, when Elliott returned to coach his alma mater, he left a position as head coach at Siena, where he was Metro Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year in 2012. The Siena vacancy was filled by Cesar Markovic, who coached NJIT in 2011 and 2012, leading the Highlanders to 10 wins in 2012, their highest total since beginning Division I play in 2004. When Markovic moved on, Orellana, who had been the top assistant for the Highlanders, moved up into the head coach's role.