Box Score Box score

FAIRFIELD, CT—The NJIT men's soccer team absorbed its second 2-1 road loss in as many games to start the 2013 season, falling at Sacred Heart Tuesday night, after the victorious Pioneers struck twice in a span of 3:06 to flip what was a 1-0 deficit entering the 69th minute into a 2-1 win.
 
Sacred Heart, which lost its two previous games (2-0 in the opener at Stony Brook and 4-1 at home to Siena on September 1), was outshot in the first half against NJIT, 10-3, and the Highlanders led at the halftime break on what would be their only goal of the night, a 20-yard blast by junior Marko Drljic in the 40th minute.
 
Despite dominating the shots in the first half and forcing Sacred Heart goalkeeper Tucker Hackett to make six saves in the opening 45 minutes, the Highlanders had just the 1-0 lead to show for it and they paid the price when they couldn't add on in the second half.
 
Where NJIT had recovered from a difficult first half in its opening 2-1 loss at #19 St. John's on August 30, the Highlanders were unable to find the higher gear needed to put away Sacred Heart in the closing 45 minutes Tuesday. At St. John's, the Highlanders trailed at halftime, 1-0, but came back to tie and did not concede the winning goal until the last 13 minutes. At Sacred Heart, NJIT controlled the first half, but lost the game in the second half.
 
The 1-0 halftime lead was threatened quickly in the second half, when Sacred Heart's Mahmoud Kafel, who had a goal in last year's 3-2 loss to the Highlanders in Newark, hit the goal post with a shot 148 seconds into the second period.
 
Having escaped that threat, NJIT held onto its slim lead more than halfway through the second half, but Kafel, who had been denied by the post earlier, put the ball in the back of the net for the Pioneers at 68:37, assisted by Jamal Vinson and Kieran Walsh.
 
Walsh got together with Ronaldo Vieira on the game-winner for the Pioneers at 71:43. NJIT was whistled for a hand ball just outside the penalty area with a free kick awarded to the Pioneers for the Highlanders' infraction. Walsh took the first touch, tapping the ball left to Vieira, who fired from 15 yards, nailing a low shot just inside the left corner.
 
The Highlanders had a final strong chance of their own just over minute from the end when Joshua Mercer attempted a bicycle kick, but his try, though strong enough, missed high, sailing over the crossbar by a few inches.
 
NJIT finished with a 16-9 advantage in total shots, but it was 6-6 in the second half. Hackett, the Sacred Heart goalkeeper, finished with eight saves and the one first-half goal allowed. For NJIT, Alexander Czempik made three saves. One of Czempik's stops came in the 10th minute, when he denied Sacred Heart's Aaron Burrell, who got off a challenging re-direct of a Kafel shot.
 
The Highlanders who will have nine of their first 11 away from home by the time October arrives, will next head to Lexington, VA, for a 5 pm game on Friday at VMI.