PHILADELPHIA — NJIT rallied from a two-goal halftime deficit to earn a 3-3 draw against La Salle on Tuesday at McCarthy Stadium, extending the Highlanders' unbeaten streak to six matches and concluding their non-conference schedule.
Recently ranked No. 8 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Northeast Region Poll, NJIT moved to 6-4-3 overall, while La Salle improved to 5-5-3.
The Highlanders, who rank No. 1 nationally in shots per game, finished with a commanding 25-10 advantage in shots, including 12 on target compared to La Salle's six.
La Salle struck first at 15:00 when Pedro Amadou scored off an assist from Marcos Villanueva. The Explorers doubled their lead at 19:36 on a goal by Davin Millisock, assisted by Kyrese Lynch-Bailey, to take a 2-0 advantage.
NJIT continued to generate opportunities late in the first half, with shots by Telmo Vila at 39:13 and Mateusz Marciniak at 40:09 turned away by La Salle goalkeeper Sean Ellis. Andre Faerman also came up with a save on Gabe Faust at 43:02 to keep the deficit at two heading into halftime.
The Highlanders carried their attacking momentum into the second half, creating early chances through Marciniak, Henrique Sardinha and Vila before breaking through in the 70th minute.
Junee Lee put NJIT on the board at 69:24, and reigning America East Conference Player of the Week Diogo Rebelo converted a penalty kick just 24 seconds later at 69:48 to level the match at 2-2. The goal was Rebelo's team-leading seventh of the season and extended his scoring streak to three consecutive matches.
NJIT completed the comeback just over two minutes later when Stefan Lichtenheim scored at 71:49 off an assist from Maximus Barboto, giving the Highlanders a 3-2 lead.
La Salle responded at 80:55, as Luca Brems-Stamov found the back of the net off a Keiji Sugiura assist to even the score at 3-3.
Both teams looked for a late winner. Zain Thompson tested Ellis at 83:32, while Faerman denied a late attempt by Sugiura at 88:44 to help preserve the draw.
Rebelo led NJIT with seven shots, including four on goal, while Vila added four shots and Marciniak finished with three. Faerman recorded three saves for the Highlanders, while Ellis made nine stops for La Salle.
NEXT UP
NJIT returns home to host UAlbany, ranked No. 5 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Northeast Region Poll, on Saturday, October 17, at 3 p.m. at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium in Newark, NJ. The match will take place during NJIT's Homecoming Weekend.
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