STONY BROOK, NY—Stony Brook scored a pair of goals in the second half to build a 2-0 lead and then held off NJIT's late comeback attempt, for a 2-1 victory Wednesday evening in men's soccer non-conference action.
Stony Brook (4-1-1) had the better of the play in the opening 45 minutes as the Seawolves out-shot visiting, NJIT (5-1-1), 10-1 in total shots and 5-1 (shots on goal). NJIT sophomore keeper
Victor Pujades kept the game scoreless, heading into the half, posting five saves.
The Highlanders had more of the ball in the second half, as NJIT fired off 10 shots as opposed to one in the first.
"I don't think we had our best game tonight but we battled and made the game 2-1." second-year head coach
Fernando Barboto commented. "We hit the post and had a shot blocked that had the best of the keeper at the end."
The Seawolves scored in the 59
th minute on a penalty kick by Vincent Erdei and 76
th minute on a header by Eric McKenna. NJIT senior
Mamadou Guirassy, the nation's leading scorer, scored the lone goal for the visitors in the 85
th minute.
Pujades made his first, diving save of the game, keeping the score, 0-0, in the 22
nd minute, as sophomore Jarred Dass settled the ball from 20 yards out off a corner kick and deflected to the left post on good angle but couldn't get around Pujades.
In the 33
rd minute, Danny Espinoza used his speed, taking on the NJIT defense, as his shot was deflected to the right of the post by Pujades who stretched out for the save.
Stony Brook's Akeem Morris took on an NJIT defender one-on-one and then slipped past another defender, getting inside the box but his shot was saved by Pujades and the NJIT backline in the 36
th minute.
Two early scoring opportunities for Stony Brook in the opening three minutes of the second half, came on a throw-in and header by Serge Gamwanya and shot by Lars Togstad, both saved by Pujades.
Erdei nearly put the Seawolves ahead in the 57
th minute as his shot, six inches away from the far post, curled out and went wide.
The Seawolves struck first on a penalty kick by Erdei in the 59
th minute after a foul inside the box, giving the home team at 1-0 lead.
Freshman
Hugo Espuela recorded the Highlanders third shot of the game on a header over the top of the net off a corner kick by
Juan Zapata in the 65
th minute.
Another scoring opportunity in the 70
th minute for Stony Brook, as the ball was served inside the box and headed by Robin Jatta-Bjornholm, who was denied by Pujades with a diving save.
NJIT had a chance to score in the 74
th minute, as freshman
Thomas Radon's shot curled and hit the post.
Stony Brook took a 2-0 lead in the 76
th minute on graduate student McKenna's header into the bottom corner of the net off a throw-in in the middle of the box.
NJIT's Guirassy got a shot on frame in the 79
th minute and Espuela in the 82
nd minute but both were grabbed by McMahon.
Guirassy got the Highlanders on the board in the 85
th minute, after receiving the ball in the midfield from senior
Phillip Costa and blasted a shot from distance, pulling NJIT within one of the Seawolves, 2-1.
NJIT's Pujades put together a strong performance, stopping 11 shots, a new personal-mark for the Highlander, in 90 minutes of action. His 11 saves are two shy the NJIT D1 record.
"Victor was key and made some big saves off their set pieces," Barboto added.
Stony Brook's McMahon recorded six saves in the win.
The final shots favored Stony Brook, 22-11, (13-7 shots on goal) and corner kicks, 10-2. Guirassy led the Highlanders with four shots on goal.
NJIT will be back in action on Saturday at 3pm when the Highlanders host Fairleigh Dickinson in Hillside, NJ, on the campus of Kean University's East Campus Facility.
The Knights enter Saturday's contest ranked No. 21 in the latest United Soccer Coaches National Poll and undefeated at 5-0.
For the first time since competing at the Division I level, NJIT is receiving votes in the National Top-25 poll, with five votes.
Last season, the Highlanders blanked the Knights, 1-0, in the season opener, on the lone goal by Guirassy late in the second half.
