TEANECK, N.J. - The Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer team played to a 0-0 draw against Saint Francis U Friday night at University Stadium. The draw moves their overall record to 4-5-4 (1-1-2 NEC) on the season.
FDU returns to action on Sunday when they host Robert Morris at 3 p.m.
Fredinho Mompremier led the Knights in shots with three, while Valentino Ambrosio led FDU in shots on goal with two. Goalkeeper Jahmali Waite made three saves on the evening to earn his second clean sheet of the season.
"Tonight was a typical, hard fought, NEC battle between two good teams," head coach Seth Roland said. "They are a difficult team to break down defensively. I thought in the first half we were not at our sharpest, but I thought after half time, we started to pick it up. We started connecting on our passes better and had some good looks to get the winning goal."
Despite not generating an overwhelming amount of scoring chances, the Knights kept one of the best offenses in the NEC in check all night, limiting the SFU attack to just three shots on goal with a committed defensive performance that featured five blocked shots.
Waite was tested early, making a big stop on a quality chance from Nicco Mastrangelo just two minutes in. Moments later at the other end of the field, Ideal Shefqeti answered back with a look of his own, steering a header just wide of the near post off of a volley into the box.
The Red Flash continued to ramp up the pressure. Leonardo Ribeiro fired one on Waite through traffic in the 35'; however, a Knight defender managed to get a leg on the effort to keep it out.
The FDU backline was forced to repel another attack a minute later, and again they held firm, blocking away a strike from Kevin Smolyn.
Waite came up huge again in the 74', making one of his best saves of the year on a diving effort to punch out a header directed on goal from near point-blank range by Smolyn. Ambosio produced the best look offensively for the Knights in the second; however, his strike from the right wing was cooly swallowed up by SFU keeper Alex Morget.
Mompremier nearly won the game for FDU in the 98' mark of the first overtime period, collecting a loose ball in the box before firing a strike that caught a diving Morget off-balance; however, the effort sailed just high, missing the crossbar by mere inches to stay out.
Mompremier got one more look on net in the 106'; however, his effort sailed high yet again as time expired on the scoreless matchup.
"Saint Francis is a handful on the attack as well, so it was kind of a back and forth game for stretches," Roland said. "In the end, a draw is probably not an unfair result for either team."
