NEWARK, NJ—Visiting Stetson came back with three unanswered goals in the second half, including two in the final 9:12 to pull out a 3-2 win over NJIT in Atlantic Sun Conference women's soccer Friday night on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
NJIT, now 0-5 in the A-Sun and 2-12 overall, had built a 2-0 lead on a goal in the 37th minute and another at 51:02. However, Stetson, rallied to stay in contention for the top spot in the A-Sun standings, as the victory left the Hatters, who came in sitting in third place, at 3-1-1 in conference play. Stetson goes to 9-5-1 overall following Friday night's result.
Redshirt freshman Annette Morton scored the first two goals for the Hatters, both on headers, and the game-winning goal came on another header, this one by sophomore Adrianna Suarez in the 85th minute. Morton has three goals on the season and Suarez has five.
NJIT freshman
Melanie Zrno scored the first goal of the game and assisted on the second. Her goal came directly off her corner kick which angled inside the far post after she sent it out of the left corner in the 37th minute. It was her first collegiate goal.
Zrno picked up her second assist of the year when she fed a pass ahead to
Arianna Gerber, who beat a defender and finished with her team-leading fourth goal of the season.
NJIT's 2-0 advantage lasted just 104 seconds before Stetson's Morton scored the first of her two goals. Still, the Highlanders took a 2-0 lead into the final 10 minutes before Morton's second goal at 80:48 and the game-winner from Suarez at 84:19.
The last two goals resulted from NJIT's inability to clear the ball following point-blank saves by senior goalkeeper
Samantha Bersett. The tying goal by Morton came in a scramble after Bersett had made two quick stops and the winning goal was after a rebound of a shot by Stetson sophomore Sarah Collins, who was credited with an assist on the play.
Bersett had one of her strongest games of the season, making a season-high 11 saves and breaking up numerous crossing passes served in front of her goal.
The victorious Hatters used one goalkeeper in each half and they each allowed a goal and neither made a save. Kahri Smith started and Janine Scharnbacher came on for the last 45 minutes.
NJIT will have a day off before hosting defending A-Sun regular season and tournament champion Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday at 1 pm.
