FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer team battled the Sacred Heart Pioneers to a scoreless draw on the road Friday afternoon.
 
The Knights (4-5-2, 0-1-2 NEC) gained a point in the NEC standings with the tie. Junior goalkeeper Jahmali Waite saved three first-half shots on his way to his second shutout of the season and eighth of his career.
 
The Burgundy and Blue withstood an early wave of shots by the Pioneers (1-8-2, 0-2-2 NEC) before dominating possession after the start of the second half. The backline play of redshirt senior Quentie Kyeremateng, sophomore Anthony Herbert, junior Kaskile Zawadi, redshirt sophomore Adrian Barajas and freshman Jared Subarsky helped hold Sacred Heart to just one blocked shot after the first period and no shot attempts in either overtime period. FDU outshot the Pioneers 21-7 in the match.
 
"We created many, many opportunities but simply cannot stick the ball in the back of the net," head coach Seth Roland said after the match. "Outshooting them 18-1 after halftime is a lot of chances. We defended well, we possessed the ball well, we competed well. But we did not score well. It's certainly a frustrating thing to deal with because there's no easy solution. But we will keep trying and trying until we start breaking through."

Waite stopped the first shot of the game by Sacred Heart's CJ Weinstein in the 11th minute, and the junior made another save a few minutes later as the Pioneers opened the game with five early shots. Sophomore Ideal Shefqeti tried FDU's first scoring attempt 15 minutes into the game, but his shot missed high of the net.
 
Sophomore Joshua Ferreira tried the Knights' next shot that was guided out to the right of the net, and the Knight defense continued to hold the Pioneers at bay, with Waite making his third save of the half on an Olaf Conforti shot in the 38th minute. Subarsky fired the best scoring chance for FDU late in the half, but Sacred Heart goalkeeper Robert Strain made the save on Subarsky's centered shot to keep the game scoreless at halftime.
 
Freshman Peter Kozlej and junior Diego Arribas opened up the second half for the Knights with shots over the top right corner of the net. Redshirt senior Daniel Lasarte also worked to create a good scoring chance but had his shot saved in the 58th minute as FDU continued to press on the attack. Almost 20 minutes later, Lasarte had another opportune shot saved as the Knights maintained pressure on the Sacred Heart backline.
 
With less than seven minutes left in regulation, Herbert attempted a shot off a corner kick that was saved by Strain, and Arribas followed with another shot on target that was again saved to hold the score at zeroes. Two more FDU shots sent high of the goal closed the half and forced overtime.
 
The Knights attempted all five shots of the first overtime period, with freshman Jared Dillon lining up a shot on goal toward the bottom left corner that was saved in the 96th minute. A Lasarte shot wide of the goal represented the lone chance for either team in the second extra period, leading to a scoreless draw.
 
FDU returns home for its next match Sunday night at 6 p.m., facing the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils in another NEC contest at University Stadium.