Samson Malijani (Lusaka, Zambia, /La Sapienza) (Lusaka, Zambia) scored twice to lift the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's soccer team to a 2-0 win in its conference opener versus Sacred Heart at University Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Knights improve to 6-3-1 overall with a 1-0-0 mark in conference play, while the Pioneers fall to 2-5-1 and 0-1-0 in the NEC.
The Knights created several offensive opportunities in the first half. Malijani sent a corner kick that was halted by the Sacred Heart goalie Matt Jones (Stoke-on-Trent, England) at the 30:37 mark. With 26:05 on the clock, Marcos Morales (St. Charles, IL/St. Charles) (St. Charles, IL) fired a shot, but it hit the left post.
In the 22nd minute, Fabrizio Trezza (Rome, Italy, /Sion) (Rome, Italy) dished out a long forward pass on a breakaway with Malijani. Malijani went one-on-one with the goalie and his strike found the back of the net to put FDU on top, 1-0.
Sacred Heart had its best chance in the first half on a free kick in the 15th minute, but it was blocked by the Knights' defense.
With 14 minutes left in the second half, Christian Vasconez (Quito, Ecuador/Dickinson) (Quito, Ecuador) pushed the ball over to Malijani, who dribbled down the center of the box one-on-one with a defender and was able to fire it into the net to give the Knights a 2-0 lead. The goal was Malijani's seventh of the season and 24th of his career.
Majdi Zaineh (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) (Clifton, NJ) earned the shutout in goal with strong defense between the posts, making six acrobatic saves. Jones had five saves in goal for the Pioneers. The Knights edged Sacred Heart in shots, 11-10 and each team took three corner kicks.
“I'm pleased with our effort today,” said Head Coach Seth Roland. “We competed well against a very good Sacred Heart team. It's a good way to start off conference play.”
The Knights are back in action on Friday, October 17 when they travel to Hamden, CT to play Quinnipiac at 3:00 p.m. The next men's soccer home game is Friday, October 24 at 3:30 p.m., versus Saint Francis PA.
