TEANECK, N.J. - The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's soccer team tied Central Connecticut State by a final score of 1-1 Sunday evening at University Stadium. The draw moves the Knights to 8-4-2 overall, including a 2-2-1 mark in NEC Conference play. FDU returns to action Tuesday, October 24th when they head to Washington D.C. for a clash with Howard University.
Freshman goalkeeper Jahmali Waite stopped seven of eight shots on goal on the evening. Ahu Obhakhan provided the lone tally for FDU, his sixth of the season.
"It was a heck of a game, a typical NEC battle between two competitive teams," head coach Seth Roland said. "I didn't think we played our best in the first half, but we picked it up in the second. I actually think we played our best in overtime, where we had some chances but were unlucky not to stick one away."
Both teams came out with an attacking mentality from the opening kickoff, playing with a good deal of pace and aggressive attitude for much of the opening frame.
The Knights were awarded a pair of corners in the first six minutes of play, however were unable to take advantage thanks to some stout defending from the CCSU back line. Although both efforts off the set pieces from Diego Arribas looked dangerous, the Blue Devils were able to clear the danger and avoid the early deficit.
FDU nearly opened the scoring again in the 28' after an initial effort in the box from Ahu Obhakhan bounced off the post. Arribas gathered the rebound and nearly tucked away the ball on a second effort, however another key block from the Blue Devil back line denied the freshman a goal. .
CCSU would answer back with some offensive looks of their own, including a pair of back-to-back corners that were steered wide by Wojciech Piwowarczyk.
The Blue Devils eventually did break through in the 43' when a pass into the box deflected off of an FDU defender and right to forward Sean Gannon, who turned and fired the strike home to give CCSU the 1-0 advantage as the first half was coming to a close.
The lead would be short lived, however, as the Knights got the response they were looking for early in the second courtesy of Obhakhan.
Just over a minute into the second half, the redshirt junior gathered the ball near midfield before going on a blazing run down the right wing, beating several defenders with his speed before slotting home a perfectly placed shot into the far corner to draw FDU level at 1-1.
"It was a big goal, but we didn't latch onto it like we could have," Roland said. "We had chances in the second half, especially at the end, but we just couldn't stick them away."
Jeremy Despringre and Jacob Labovitz continued to pour it on for the Knights, getting good looks at the CCSU keeper, however both efforts sailed just wide of their intended targets. Waite was tested constantly at the other end of the pitch as well, making a pair of quality saves on Ryan Taylor and DeShawn Parker in quick succession in the 51' and 53'.
FDU continued to press, nearly going up 2-1 on a number of dangerous looks late in the match, however the ball stayed out and the match dragged on into overtime.
Cristian Nunez had a sensational chance to win it in the 109' after he managed to slip behind the CCSU back line for a clean look on goal, however keeper Carson D'Ambrosio raced out to challenge the ball and made a desperation save to somehow keep the ball out of the net. Nevertheless, both teams played on still even.
The Knights were dangerous for the full 20 minutes of extra time, earning looks from Labovitz and Obhakhan in the fourth period that would have ended things, however once again both efforts just missed their intended marks. A big save from Waite in the 110' proved to be the last real chance of the game, as time finally expired and both teams walked away with a point.
"CCSU is a very good team, and I thought it was a good, hard fought battle between two good teams," Roland said. "We were unlucky not to finish some chances off, but we'll take the point and prepare for Howard on Tuesday and most importantly LIU Brooklyn on Sunday."
