Box Score Box score

LEXINGTON, VA—In a matchup of two teams looking for their first victory of 2013, neither got quite what they wanted, as visiting NJIT and Virginia Military Institute played to a 1-1 overtime time tie Friday evening on Patchin Field in what was the third game of the year for each side.
 
VMI, which had lost to Army, 3-0, and Campbell, 3-2, to open the season, got on the board first on Friday, with a goal in the 10th minute. NJIT, which opened its season with 2-1 losses at #19 St. John's and at Sacred Heart, trailed for about 12 more minutes. But the Highlanders leveled the score at 22:15 on a header by sophomore Cristian Marcel off of a free kick from Matija Blazic.
 
The teams played for almost 88 more minutes—nearly 68 minutes of regulation, plus two 10-minute overtime periods, but there would be no scoring on this day.
 
NJIT, which outshot the Keydets 9-2 in a second-half bid to get the go-ahead goal that never came, finished with 15-11 edge in overall shots, including 6-5 in shots on goal. VMI outshot NJIT in overtime, 3-1 and all three shots for the home team were on frame.
 
The Highlander goal scorer, Marcel, attempted a game-high five shots, while teammate Franco Gamero got off four attempts. Tommy Osipitan attemped two shots for NJIT and both were on frame. Blake McCauley, who scored the VMI goal, unassisted, took three shots and Kyle Forche also was credited with three shots for the Keydets.
 
Both goalkeepers, NJIT's Alexander Czempik and VMI's Daniel Kitchen, played all 110 minutes and Kitchen was credited with five saves, while Czempik stopped four shots.
 
The goal for McCauley, his first of the season after scoring a team-best four goals in 2012, was a strong individual effort, as he received a through ball from Taylor Rafaly, then split two Highlander defenders, went around a third and fired into the top left corner for a 1-0 VMI lead at 9:56.
 
NJIT's equalizer came in the 23rd minute, when the junior Blazic sent a head-high free kick into the crowded goal area and Marcel, also a junior, nodded it home. The goal was the first of 2013 for Marcel, who picked up his first points in the young season after finishing third on the 2012 Highlanders with 10 points on three goals and four assists.
 
NJIT, which has scored exactly one goal in each of its three games, all on the road, will play its home opener on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm against George Washington on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
 
GW should be a formidable foe, bringing a 2-1 record to Newark for Sunday's game. The Colonials dropped their opening game to Washington, DC, rival American, 3-0, but have rebounded with a 2-0 win over another DC opponent, Howard, and then another 2-0 win Friday night in Brooklyn, NY, against LIU Brooklyn. Last September 26, NJIT was a 1-0 winner over George Washington when the teams clashed in the nation's capital.
 
The Highlanders, playing their first home game of 2013, will try to build on the they trait they've shown as a strong home team the past two seasons. In 2011, they were just 2-10 in road games, but 3-2-2 on the Mal Simon Stadium turf. In 2012, NJIT was 6-3 in Newark and 4-6 in away and neutral-site contests.
 
Sunday's game, designated as Alumni Day, is one of just two home contests on the schedule until the calendar turns to October, after which the Highlanders have four home contests.
 
Sunday's matchup vs. GW is part of a doubleheader on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium, as the NJIT women's soccer team will be in action at 1 pm, hosting Lafayette.