NEWARK, NJ—It was a chance-filled men's soccer game Wednesday night between NJIT and visiting Central Connecticut, but when the smoke cleared at the end of the second overtime period, all the scoring—a goal each way—had taken place within 132 seconds late in the second half.
 
NJIT (6-3-4) broke the ice in the 71st minute on a 23-yarder by freshman Brett Conrads, the first goal of his college career, unassisted. But the lead was short-lived, as Central Connecticut (5-6-1) equalized on the first goal of the season for sophomore James Randall, also unassisted, in the 73rd minute.
 
The Highlanders finished with 29 total shots, nearly double their previous single-game high for the season (16 vs. Fordham on September 13, also a double overtime tie). Indeed, the 29 shots were the most in a game for NJIT since it took a school Division I-record 43 shots against VMI on September 20, 2009.
 
Of the 29 shots Wednesday night, 9 were on target, as Central Connecticut goalkeeper Ben LaVallee, a senior making his 2014 season debut, made 8 saves. NJIT also hit the woodwork twice in the contest.
 
Central Connecticut took 18 total shots and three were on frame, as Highlander goalkeeper Christian Foust finished with a pair of saves.
 
The goal for NJIT's Conrads came after he chested down the ball to his feet and fired a low shot that skipped on the damp surface and into the goal past Central's LaVallee at 70:06.
 
Central Connecticut leveled the score at 72:18 on Randall's rebound goal. The Blue Devils sent a high floating pass from outside the box to in front of the NJIT goal. Tangled a bit in traffic, NJIT's Foust went up to punch the ball, but not clear, as it bounced to Randall and the sophomore touched it once to gain control and sent a quick half-volley back past Foust and into the net.
 
Wednesday's contest played out differently than most NJIT games this year. In addition to their own high volume of shots, the normally close-marking Highlanders allowed a lot of wide-open play in Central Connecticut's attacking third of the field, with many of the dangerous Blue Devil chances coming on counters.
 
Including the posts and shots that were either near-misses or good saves, NJIT had eight excellent chances that went for nothing and Central Connecticut missed six fine opportunities. NJIT also had an apparent goal disallowed on offside in the 60th minute.
 
Senior Marko Drljic, NJIT's leading scorer, had what had to feel like season's worth of bad luck in one night. It began when he won a ball in front of the goal and got off a hard off-balance shot that hit the left post in the 37th minute.
 
Near the end of regulation, Drljic, open in front, attempted a sliding shot from less than 10 yards away that went tantalizingly wide of the right post. In overtime, his direct free kick from outside the box momentarily fooled some in the crowd into cheering what they thought was a goal. In reality, the shot came to rest in the netting on the roof of the goal.
 
Randall, who had scored the Central goal, had another shot in the 82nd minute that Foust stopped with a sliding save. And Zach Zurita later broke free for CCSU on a counter attack, but his shot hit the right post
 
NJIT freshman Danny Cordeiro, whose 10-yard shot in the 95th minute was deflected over the crossbar by a leaping LaVallee, made a move to free himself for a 12-yard open blast in the 108th minute, but it struck the crossbar on the last good scoring chance for either team.
 
The Highlanders, who played their next-to-last home game and next-to-last non-conference game when they hosted Central Connecticut, will go on the road for a Sun Belt Conference game Saturday at 2 pm when they visit Hartwick in Oneonta, NY.