The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's soccer team (2-6-1, 0-1-0 NEC) fell to visiting Central Connecticut (3-5-0, 1-0-0 NEC) in an intense and physical game, 2-1, on Friday afternoon in the second overtime of its first conference match.
Each team was able to put a goal on the board in the second half, but with the score tied 1-1, Central Connecticut's Christopher Brown pushed in a goal in the 105th minute for a win.
The Blue Devils best chance to score in the first half came on a shot drilled by Eddie Floyd with under a minute on the clock, but it hit the cross bar and flew out.
The Knights took four shots in the first half, with two coming from Samson Malijani (Lusaka, Zambia, /La Sapienza). Richard Healey (Keynsham, England, /Ocean City) had one of the Knights' strongest chances 12 minutes into the first half when he blasted the ball onto Central's net, but goalkeeper Paul Armstrong dove on it to squelch the opportunity.
Central Connecticut opened scoring in the 54th minute. Jonathan Agbatar took the ball from the sideline and dribbled in eight yards before sending it across to David Pinto, who volleyed the ball in from 12 yards out to make the score 1-0 in favor of the Blue Devils.
Fairleigh Dickinson responded in the 87th minute with a play started by Richard Healey (Keynsham, England, /Ocean City), who sent a long ball to Adrian Dinculescu (Ramnicu Valcea, /Ramsey). Dinculescu sent a short pass to Samson Malijani (Lusaka, Zambia, /La Sapienza), who scored his sixth goal of the season as he swiveled around in mid-air, blasting the ball into the back of the net.
With just under five minutes on the clock in the second overtime, after a Fairleigh Dickinson foul, Yan Klukowski sent a long pass into a scramble in front of the net. Goalkeeper Elvir Prasovic (Astoria, NY/Newcomers) jumped to the side to punch the ball out, but Christopher Brown got a piece of it and swept it in on a sliding kick into the goal.
The Knights out-shot the Blue Devils, 14-7, and held a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks. Prasovic made two saves in goal, while Armstrong made six.
The Knights are back in action on Sunday, Oct. 7 when they host Quinnipiac at University Stadium at 1:00 p.m.
