A pair of first-half goals from freshman Samson Malijani (Lusaka, Zambia, /La Sapienza) (Lusaka, Zambia) and senior Elkana “Donny” Mayard (Laval, Canada) led the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's soccer team (3-1-2) past visiting Princeton, 3-0, on Tuesday afternoon at University Stadium. The Knights handed the Tigers their first defeat of the season as they fall to 2-1-1.
Malijani opened scoring in the 24th minute with his first goal as a Knight, receiving a pass from the right side from junior Pino Tubito (East Hanover, NJ/St. Thomas Aquinas) (East Hanover, NJ) and dribbling in to create a one-on-one against the goalkeeper. Malijani buried the ball into the bottom right corner to give the Knights a 1-0 advantage.
Tubito found Mayard in front of the net five minutes later for another scoring opportunity. Mayard leapt into the air and blasted in a header for his first goal of the season and a 2-0 FDU advantage heading into the second half.
Sophomore Alejandro Bedoya (Weston, FL/ASES Group) (Weston, FL) netted his third goal of the season in the second half to give Fairleigh Dickinson insurance. Freshman Jorge Blacido (Ramsey, NJ/Rider) (Ramsey, NJ) sent a pass up the middle and Malijani worked a quick tap over to Bedoya, who put the ball the opposite corner of the net.
Elvir Prasovic (Astoria, NY/Newcomers) (Astoria, NY) played all 90 minutes between the posts for the Knights, making one save to earn the shutout.
The Knights out-shot the Tigers, 11-7 and held a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.
“I was very impressed with how we played against a very good Princeton team,” said Head Coach Seth Roland. “I felt that we came out focused right from the start of the game and our mentality was very good.”
Fairleigh Dickinson is back in action on Saturday, Sept. 16 when they play at Towson at 1:00 p.m.
