ATLANTA—The opening 36 minutes of Saturday night's Sun Belt Conference opening men's soccer game were a nightmare for NJIT, which yielded five goals in that time frame and Georgia State went on to a 6-1 victory over the visiting Highlanders.
NJIT (0-1 Sun Belt, 3-6-3 overall), which hadn't allowed more than two goals in any of its first 11 games and which had allowed a total of five goals in the preceding five games combined, allowed that many in the first 36:04 Saturday night.
The victorious Panthers (2-0 Sun Belt; 6-4 overall) scored twice in the first eight minutes, starting with an unassisted goal for Casey Shultis in the seventh minute. Freshman Hannes Burmeister, who would score twice on the night, made it 2-0 for GSU when he scored off a throw-in 65 seconds after the Shultis tally.
The 2-0 margin held until the 25th minute, when the home team benefited from an own goal by NJIT.
The onslaught continued with two more quick goals later in the opening half. Lukas Joyner scored off of a corner kick, with an assist going to Max Hemmings at 34:18 and the Panthers struck again at 36:04, as Burmeister netted his second goal of the evening, putting the ball in the net on a direct free kick.
Things quieted down in the second half, but Georgia State would add another goal in the 71st minute when Jad Elkhalil knocked home a rebound of his own shot for the sixth Panther goal.
NJIT avoided a shutout when
Stephen McGeever converted a penalty kick 27 seconds before the final whistle.
Not surprisingly, Georgia State nearly doubled the Highlanders in total shots, 21-11, and had a 13-5 advantage in shots on goal.
Greyson Walldorff played the full match in goal for GSU, making four saves and NJIT keeper
Marco Luna saved seven.
NJIT, which has been a strong home side in recent years (21-7-10 since the start of 2011), will play its next two in Newark, beginning with a non-conference game on Wednesday at 7 pm vs. Lafayette on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium..
