Box Score TEANECK, N.J. -- Junior
Sam Durkot (Centereach, N.Y./Newfield)'s second goal of the season on a free kick propelled the Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer team to a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over Robert Morris in Northeast Conference play on Sunday at University Stadium. With the win, the Knights pick up three points in the standings and improve to 3-8-1 (1-1-0 NEC) on the season, while the Colonials fall to 5-7-2 (0-2-0 NEC) overall.
In the 96th minute of overtime, Robert Morris was whistled for a foul outside the upper-right corner of the box. Durkot, who scored his first career goal earlier this season on a free kick as well, delivered again, as his left-foot strike found the back of the net to beat Colonials' goalkeeper Brenden Alfery to the lower-right side.
The reason the two sides went to overtime was because of big mistake by FDU late in regulation. Knights' goalkeeper
Matthew Weigner (Warrington, Pa/Central Bucks South) came out of the box in the 88th minute but got crossed up, and RMU's Rafael Bruzual was able to corral the ball and score in the empty net to knot the game at 2-2.
The Knights found themselves behind the eight ball early in the match when the visitors scored in the fourth minute to take a very early 1-0 lead. Bruce Collen found Neco Brett, the nation's leading goal scorer, and he delivered for his 13th goal of the season.
Despite heading into halftime trailing 1-0, FDU held a 7-3 advantage in shots and forced Alfery into two saves.
The Knights finally tied the contest in the 54th minute when senior
Nico Wright (St. Catherine, Jamaica/Jamaica College) collected the ball in the middle of the box after a blocked shot and scored his team-best third goal of the season.
Sixteen minutes later, FDU went in front, 2-1, on the first goal of the season from senior
Godfred Baafi (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack ), who whistled a shot into the back of the net after a feed from freshman
Casey Abelein (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandermeulen).
The Colonials held a 9-5 advantage in shots over the second 45 minutes, but the Knights outshot RMU for the match, 13-12. Weigner would finish with two saves, while Alfery ended up with three.
"It's nice to get our first three points in NEC play this year, and against a very dangerous Robert Morris team," Head Coach Seth Roland said. "We played with greater commitment after halftime, and it showed in the scoreline. We need to do a better job of managing our lead and seeing it through to victory within 90 minutes, but we showed a good mentality by scoring the winner in overtime after having allowed RMU to pull even just before the end of regulation. (Godfred) Baafi's performance was exceptional, and he scored one of the best goals I've ever seen here at FDU."FDU will have six days off before returning to action on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Central Connecticut. Kickoff for the NEC contest in New Britain, Conn. is slated for 7 p.m.
