BOONE, NC—Junior midfielder Mason McCarter's first career goal, 4:41 into overtime Saturday night, was the difference for Appalachian State, which defeated visiting NJIT 2-1 in the regular season finale for both men's soccer teams.
 
The win for the Mountaineers was their first in the Sun Belt Conference after going 0-2-2 in the first four conference games. Appalachian State is 6-7-3 overall to go with its 1-2-2 Sun Belt Conference record.
 
NJIT, meanwhile, drops to 7-7-4 overall and 2-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Highlanders, who were 5-2-3 in their first 10 games of the season and won their first Sun Belt game over Georgia State in the 12th overall game, finish the regular season with back-to-back losses, both on the road in conference play.
 
The Highlanders, who could have forged a 3-way tie for second place in the Sun Belt with a win, instead drop to fourth place in the final six-team regular season Sun Belt standings.
 
What Saturday's final result means is that NJIT and Appalachian State will face each other again on Thursday at 6:30 pm in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference championship tournament, which will be hosted by Georgia Southern. NJIT will be the fourth seed in the five-team field, while Appalachian State will be seeded fifth.
 
In the regular season finale at Appalachian State, the home team scored early in the first half and visiting NJIT leveled the score with a goal early in the second half.
 
Appalachian State's goal in the 13th minute came on a shot from just outside the box by freshman Jeremy Tshongo, his second goal of the season, unassisted.
 
NJIT junior Joshua Mercer equalized for the Highlanders 6:15 into the second half, potting his fifth goal of the season on a breakaway. Mercer, who missed three games from September 27 to October 4, pulled into a tie with senior Cristian Marcel for the team season lead in goals.
 
McCarter's game-winner was the first shot for either side in extra time and was assisted by Patrick Harrow and Keegan Tanaka. Harrow crossed the ball to McCarter, who finished in the goal, the game, and NJIT's hopes for a Sun Belt tournament seed above #4 in the 95th minute.
 
NJIT had to count itself as fortunate to reach overtime at all, after Appalachian State's Stanley Broaden hit the crossbar with a shot in the 82nd minute.
 
Even so, NJIT's three conference losses, all on the road, added up to a lot of "what ifs". The Highlanders  lost 1-0 at Hartwick; 1-0 at Georgia Southern; and lost 2-1 in overtime at Appalachian State. On the other side, NJIT had a 2-1 overtime win at home in the Sun Belt over Georgia State and a 5-0 blowout win at home against Howard.
 
The total shots Saturday night favored the Mountaineers, 13-8, and the shots on goal were 7-2 for the home team. Winning goalkeeper Paul West had one save, while NJIT's Christian Foust made 4 saves and the Highlanders were credited with a "team" save.
 
The two sides entered Saturday night's last 2104 Sun Belt Conference regular season game with a good idea of their seeding for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which begins later this week.
 
Appalachian State, with 2 points in the standings, was certain to be the #5 seed in the five-team field, win, lose, or draw vs. NJIT, which came into Saturday's game with 6 points in the standings.
 
A 5-0 Saturday afternoon win by Hartwick over Howard meant that NJIT, even if it won at Appalachian State, could not catch Hartwick, since the Hawks had secured 10 points in the standings, as well as the top seed for the Sun Belt tournament.
 
Saturday night's 1-0 win by Georgia State over Georgia Southern left those two teams with 3-2 Sun Belt records and 9 points each in the standings, so NJIT could have created a 3-way tie for second place by defeating Appalachian State. A draw or a loss meant the Highlanders would be the #4 seed.
 
Perhaps most important in the scenario that came to pass, the winner of the NJIT-Appalachian State tournament game on Thursday will have to come back and play in less than 24 hours at 3 pm on Friday against top-seeded Hartwick.
 
The survivors of Friday's two semifinal contests will have a day off before the Sun Belt Conference championship game on Sunday, November 16, at 1 pm.
 
If either NJIT or Appalachian State get to Sunday's championship game, they will be playing their third match in four days, while any of the other three teams in the field will be playing their second match in three days.