A trio of goals in a span of seven minutes in the first half lifted the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's soccer team past visiting Central Connecticut State, 5-1, as five Knights scored on Sunday afternoon in 40-degree, rainy weather.
The Knights (5-8-1, 2-3-1 Northeast Conference) started their offensive production early. In the 17th minute, freshman Dominic Reinold (Wesseling, Germany/Gesamtschule Rodenkirchen) (Wesseling, Germany) found senior Serge Zulu (Longueuil, Quebec/College Francais) (Longueuil, Quebec), who dribbled in on the left side and fired from seven yards out into the bottom right corner of the net. The goal was Zulu's first of the season and the second of his career.
Junior Kenley Mathurin (Delray Beach, FL/Atlantic) (Delray Beach, FL) kept the Knights rolling as he found the back of the net in the 22nd minute, taking a rebound off Central goalkeeper Chris Jones' save for his first tally of the season.
FDU didn't rest, as two minutes later, sophomore Paul King (New Castle, England/Monkseaton) (Newcastle, England) netted his fourth goal this season. As Jones came out of the net after a save, King tapped it in to the right side to put the Knights ahead, 3-0.
Central Connecticut responded in the 38th minute, when Robert Cavener fed Eduardo Ortiz with a pass to the center of the box, eight-yards out, and Ortiz pushed it in to put the Blue Devils on the board.
But Fairleigh Dickinson wasn't finished with its offensive showcase, as Reinold dribbled down the field in the 62nd minute and tapped it into the net after Paul Armstrong, between the posts for the Blue Devils in the second half, dove.
Freshman Dragan Naumoski (/Fair Lawn) (Fair Lawn, NJ) got into the action to make the final score 5-1, grabbing a pass from senior Fernando Huthmacher (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and dribbling down the right side before sending the ball into the netting for his first goal as a Knight.
Fairleigh Dickinson out-shot the Blue Devils, 15-6, while CCSU held a slight edge in corner kicks, 4-3. Junior Majdi Zaineh (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) (Clifton, NJ) made three saves to earn the win in goal for the Knights. Jones made four saves and Armstrong grabbed two.
"Today we played very well, but we actually played no better than we have in most of our other NEC games this season," said Head Coach Seth Roland. "We have been creating many, many opportunities but were simply not finishing them. Today our finishing was obviously much, much better. We need to continue that in our upcoming games."
The Knights will host Bryant in their final home game of the regular season at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 25. The seniors will be honored in a ceremony prior to kickoff.
