Post Game Interview

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NEWARK, NJ—Saturday night's Sun Belt Conference men's soccer game between NJIT and visiting Appalachian State was close throughout. In fact, it was a scoreless tie for nearly 84 minutes. But junior Stephen Chapman, the second-leading goal scorer in the Sun Belt, found the back of the net for the seventh time this season and that was the difference in a 1-0 Mountaineers win in the regular season finale for both sides.
 
Chapman, who helped end NJIT's 2014 season when he scored the only goal in a 1-0 App State win in the last year's Sun Belt Conference Tournament, got behind the Highlanders back line Saturday and took a pass ahead in the box from Alex Beranger, finishing the only score of the game at 83:58.
 
Saturday night's result broke a fourth-place tie between the two teams in conference play, as each entered with a 1-3 Sun Belt record. Appalachian State is now 7-9 overall, while NJIT falls to 5-9-4 overall.
 
Six of NJIT's nine losses have been by one goal margins and four were 1-0 scores. The defeat also continued a pattern of mixed results for the Highlanders that began on September 16. The Highlanders lost their first two games and won their next two, but in the 14 ensuing games that began with a 2-0 loss vs. Rhode Island, NJIT has not had a streak of any kind, never having back-to-back wins, losses, or ties.
 
Each team took four shots in the opening half Saturday before the Mountaineers produced a 9-6 advantage in second-half shots for a 13-10 lead overall.
 
Appalachian State goalkeeper Jake Chasteen made a couple of excellent saves in the opening half, keeping the game scoreless. His best save was a diving grab of a shot from NJIT's Ricardo Oldham aimed inside the right post in the 38th minute. That came 28 seconds after Chasteen had deflected a try by Mamadou Guirassy of the Highlanders over the end line for a corner kick.
 
Chasteen made two more saves in the second half, giving him five total en route to his fourth clean sheet of the season. His NJIT counterpart, junior Christian Foust, made two saves, both in the second half.
 
Although Chapman's game-winner did not come until late in the 84th minute, Appalachian State nearly broke the ice 12 minutes sooner, when Ian Bennett's blast from the top of the box caromed off the crossbar.
 
NJIT recognized four seniors in pregame ceremonies before their final home games for NJIT. The honorees were: Eugene Listwan, Joshua Mercer, Jimmy Myers, and Joshua Mercer, all of whom are four-year members of the Highlanders. Mercer and Myers were both second team All-Sun Belt in 2014 as juniors.
 
Saturday's outcome actually had no bearing on the matchup for the first round of the upcoming 2015 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which will be hosted by Appalachian State in Boone, NC, beginning on Thursday at 5:30 pm.
 
The Mountaineers will host the entire Sun Belt Tournament, with the fourth-seeded Mountaineers taking on #5 NJIT on Thursday. The same two teams would have been seeded #4 and #5 even with an NJIT win or a tie in Saturday's regular season finale. Defending champion Hartwick has clinched the top seed and will take on the NJIT-Appalachian State winner in the first semifinal on Friday at 2 pm.
 
The winner of that game will face the winner of the other semifinal between Georgia State and Georgia Southern in the SBC championship game next Sunday at noon.