EMMITSBURG, Md. - The Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer team played to a 0-0 draw in their Northeast Conference opener against Mount St. Mary's Friday evening at Waldron Family Stadium. The draw moves the Knights to 3-4-3 (0-0-1 NEC) on the season.
FDU returns to action on Friday, October 5 when they host Bryant in Teaneck.
Jacob Labovitz and Daniel Lasarte tied for the team lead in shots on goal with three apiece. The Knight defense held the Mountaineers to zero shots on goal on the evening, outshooting Mount 9-0.
FDU opened up its NEC schedule with a classic NEC-style game Friday evening, as two well-conditioned, disciplined teams took turns controlling the pace of play in a hard-fought, physical matchup.
"The positive aspects of tonight's game were that we got our first clean sheet of the year, and we again created plenty of chances to score. The frustrating aspect is that our struggle to score goals continues," head coach Seth Roland said. "We out-shot them 21-6 and 9-0 for shots on goal, but none of that matters because the only stat that matters is which team scores more goals. It doesn't matter that we hit the post twice, and that their keeper made some outstanding saves. We need to do a more efficient and professional job of finishing our opportunities."
Labovitz earned the first quality look of the game for FDU, curling a high, rising strike just far of the near post in the 15' that appeared to beat Bobby Edwards but sailed wide of the mark.
A few minutes later, Knights keeper Jahmali Waite faced a pair of back-to-back chances in the box, including a tough header from Seth Walker that sailed just high.
The Knights earned two quality chances in the closing moments of the opening half, first as Fredinho Mompremier nearly tucked a hard, low strike inside the near post in the 40'.
Three minutes later, forward Ahu Obhakhan appeared to have Edwards beat as he collected a ball in the box and fired a hard strike at a wide open net; however, Edwards managed to reach out and make a diving kick save on the effort, sending the ball high over the cross bar and out of play on what looked like an obvious goal.
The Knights continued to generate quality chances in the second half, including six corners.
After Lasarte's effort on goal was blocked, the Knights were awarded a set piece and nearly capitalized; however, Fallou Tounkara's shot after collecting the initial effort from Noah Chia was blocked.
Freshman Ideal Shefqeti almost scored off an unbelievable strike from 30 yards out in the 62'; however, his effort glanced off the far post and out after beating a sprawling Edwards on the initial attempt.
Ten minutes later, Labovitz almost put the Knights ahead when he re-directed a ball into the box at an onrushing Edwards who came off his line to challenge the shot; however, the keeper managed to get a piece of it.
One final header off of a corner in the 88' was all the Knights could muster before regulation expired; however, they managed to carry the momentum into overtime, pushing the pace and nearly winning the game on a few separate occasions early.
Once again it was Labovitz leading the way, collecting a ball in the box off of a nice feed from Shefqeti and firing a strike that was saved by Edwards.
Moments later, Labovitz nearly put the game to bed again. After Lasarte's initial effort on goal ricocheted off both posts and bounced out, a waiting Labovitz collected the rebound; however, his strike missed an open net and sailed high.
The Knights would not get a better look, and after 110 minutes things ended 0-0.
"It's nice to start off conference play with a clean sheet. We didn't give them much at all in attack, and we defended very well as a team, which is something very important to build on," Roland said.
