NEWARK, NJ—Despite some good scoring opportunities both ways, neither NJIT or visiting Lafayette could find the back of the net and the teams played a scoreless tie through 110 minutes in non-conference men's soccer Wednesday night on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
Tying 0-0 wasn't a new outcome for either side, as NJIT (3-6-4) has had that result three times in the last six contests and Lafayette (5-3-5) played its fourth scoreless tie of the season.
The Leopards have seven shutouts and have allowed just six total goals in their 13 games. Indeed, their three losses all came by 1-0 scores.
Despite the absence of scoring, the game was not without chances for each team.
NJIT had a 14-10 edge in total shots, including 8-5 in shots on goal. Lafayette's 6-foot-6 sophomore goalkeeper Brian Ehrlich stopped seven Highlander shots and another try went in the books as "team" save.
On the other end, NJIT junior
Marco Luna made five saves. He has been in goal for all three of his team's scoreless ties.
Luna was tested in the 10th minute on two quick headers from the Leopards. He deflected a close shot by Lafayette's Nate Aronson at 9:27 and then deflected Eric West's try over the top just four seconds later.
The Highlanders were denied twice near the end of regular time. First, Ehrlich made a pretty save on a try by NJIT's
Danny Cordeiro in the 80th minute and three minutes later
Rickardo Oldham attempted a shot in close quarters off the outside of his right foot, but the try was just wide right,
Lafayette played down a man for the last 8:15 of the second half and all 20 minutes of extra time when Aronson was sent off for picking up his second yellow card of the match.
Playing down a man, the Leopards held firm and actually had the last good chance. West, the man Luna had stopped way back in the 10th minute, got a clear look from 20 yards straight on and sent a blast the flying Luna parried over the cross bar in the 109th minute.
The Highlanders, who came into the Lafayette game after having lost its Sun Belt Conference opening game in lopsided fashion, got back to playing the kind of defense against the Leopards that has been a cornerstone of NJIT's success in recent years, will return to Sun Belt play on Saturday at 5 pm when they host 2014 conference champion Hartwick.
Hartwick defeated the Highlanders 1-0 when they met last October in Oneonta, NY. Hartwick began defense of its title with a 3-0 win over Georgia Southern last Friday.
