EASTON, Pa. - The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's soccer team earned it's first victory of the 2017 season Friday night, taking down the Lafayette Leopards 2-0 in its season opener.
Goalkeeper Sebastian Ferreira earned his first win and first shutout of the season on the evening. Junior transfer Fredinho Mompremier and redshirt sophomore Daniel Lasarte provided the goalscoring to go with Ferreira's clean sheet.
"It's nice to get a win to open the season, especially against a fit and strong Lafayette team playing at home," head coach Seth Roland said. "It was a very solid performance from our guys."
The Knights tested Lafayette goalkeeper Brad Seeber early and often Friday evening, peppering the Leopard net with five shots on goal in the first half.
Lasarte got things started right off the hop, racing down the pitch and firing a shot on goal that Seeber managed to turn aside, forcing a corner kick for FDU. A few moments later Diego Arribas got another touch across in the box, however he was again snuffed out by Seeber.
Fairleigh Dickinson would continue to dictate play for much of the game's opening half, forcing another pair of corners and creating quality scoring chances in Lafayette's end of the field.
Mompremier, a transfer student from the University of Tampa, showcased an aggressive nose for the net, forcing a quick rebound shot high just minutes after Casey Abelin nearly steered a header of his own into the Lafayette cage.
Mompremier got another golden opportunity at 33:55 of the first when he was awarded a penalty kick after redshirt junior Ahu Obhakhan was taken down in the box by a Leopard defemder. The Haitian native's original effort was saved by Seeber, however the striker followed it up and put home the rebound to give FDU a 1-0 advantage.
"After the first 15 minutes especially, I thought we really took control of the game and created numerous chances and opportunities. Luckily, we were able to put two of them away," Roland said.
The Knights continued to play with pace throughout the remainder of the first, keeping the Lafayette attack at bay and denying them any shots on goal.
The offensive onslaught picked up right where it left off for FDU in the second. After receiving a nice pass through traffic from Obhakhan, Lasarte made a nice move to get around a Lafayette defender before cutting to the left and firing home a low shot to double FDU's lead to two.
A pair of chances by Cristian Nunez as well as another nice effort from Arribas punctuated the remainder of the second half, as the Knights were unrelenting in their pressuring of the Lafayette defense, however the score would remain the same until the game's final whistle.
All in all, FDU racked up an impressive 15 shots, including nine on goal, on the evening, conceding just four shots and no shots on goal to the Leopards.
FDU returns to action on Monday, August 28th when they host Manhattan College in their home opener at University Stadium at 7 p.m.
"I'm not sure we've ever beat Lafayette on the road in the 21 years that I've been here," Roland said. "And if we have it's been a while. Either way, it was a great way to start off 2017."
