TEANECK, N.J. - The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's soccer team was defeated by a final score of 2-1 against Rider Tuesday evening at University Stadium.
The loss is the first on the season for FDU, and moves their record to 5-1-1. The Knights return to action Saturday evening when they host Princeton at 7 p.m.
Tiago Capela stopped seven of nine shots on goal on the evening, while
Jacob Labovitz provided the lone FDU goal, his fourth of the season.
"It's hard to win every game, and tonight was a reminder that we're a team that's still evolving and growing," head coach
Seth Roland said. "We have alot to work on before we hopefully get to the finish line and become the kind of team we want to be ultimately."
The Knights and Broncs squared off not just against each other but also the elements on Tuesday night, as a torrential downpour for much of the game's first half made visibility limited, making it much more difficult for either squad to get into a full rhythm and establish a precise attack.
The teams came out firing nonetheless, trading chances back and forth in the games opening minutes.
Ten minutes into the match, the Knights had a couple of quality looks when they were awarded a series of corner kicks, however, Rider defended well and the Knights could not manage a conversion on either chance.
Daniel Lasarte had a golden opportunity in the 12' to put the Knights up 1-0 after he was hauled down at the side of the net and awarded a penalty shot. The redshirt sophomore sent a powerful strike on target, however, NJIT goalkeeper David Pastuna made the initial save before diving to keep the rebound effort out of the back of the net as well, denying
Fredinho Mompremier his fifth goal of the year from just a few yards away.
"There were a few moments early on where their keeper made some big saves and certainly had an influence on the game, and I give him credit for that," Roland said. "I'm proud of how we competed, and, like I said, it's a reminder that we're a young team that's still evolving."
Rider was quick on the counterattack, directing a steady stream of shots towards the direction of the FDU net. Aided by a big save from Capela and a couple of huge blocks from the Knights back line, FDU weathered the storm to keep the match even at 0-0.
The Broncs kept pushing however, and eventually hit paydirt in the 21' when Mathis Catanzaro picked up his first goal of the season, collecting a loose-ball rebound in front of the net and directing home a header past Capela to put Rider up 1-0.
Rider continued to pour on the pressure for much of the first half, but once again Capela and the Knights defensive backline did a good job of holding off the attack.
Down 1-0, the Knights had to deal with yet another volley of chances from Rider in the opening moments of the second half as well.
The Broncs struck again to make it 2-0 in the 68', after an initial strike from far outside the box bounced off the FDU crossbar and onto the foot of a waiting Pablo DeCastro, who put the shot home and increased Rider's lead to two goals.
Undaunted by this late deficit, the Knights continued to press forward and attack.
Lasarte managed to track down a long volley behind the Rider defensive line, however, Pastuna raced nearly to midfield to get to the ball first, forcing Lasarte to direct his strike well wide of the cage.
Freshman
Jacob Labovitz finally broke through for the Knights with under three minutes remaining, directing a perfect header into the far corner of the net off of a picture-perfect cross from fellow freshman
Josh Schupak to cut the deficit in half.
The Knights continued to press until the final whistle but a late-game equalizer proved to be a bridge too far as the Knights fell 2-1 at University Stadium.
"We kept pushing, we didn't give up," Roland said. "We scored late and still had a couple of minutes to try and score again, but we were unable to. I like our attitude and that we were able to create a handful of very dangerous opportunities that if one or two go our way it could be a different story."
