TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer team will be hosting Vs. Cancer Night at University Stadium when it takes on the Long Island Sharks Friday night at 7 p.m.
 
The game will be streamed live for free on NEC Front Row, and live stats for the match are available at fduknights.com.
 
Vs. CANCER
The Knights partnered with Vs. Cancer, a signature fundraising campaign of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, to help make a difference in the lives of kids with cancer. The Knights have formed an online team page detailing their efforts that will continue throughout the season. Visit the team's page to make a contribution toward the fight versus cancer and to watch the team's video detailing who they fight for against cancer.
 
ENTERING THE KNIGHT
The Knights (5-5-2, 1-1-2 NEC) are coming off a victory over CCSU this past Sunday in which they scored a season-high five goals and only allowed two shots on target on defense. Junior Diego Arribas netted the first two tallies of the match, raising his season total to six goals, and freshman Ville Ahola recorded three first-half assists. Freshman Peter Kozlej and redshirt senior Daniel Lasarte added goals before halftime, and sophomore Ideal Shefqeti scored the final goal of the contest in the 51st minute.
 
KNIGHT NOTABLES
Arribas is tied for third in the NEC heading into Friday's match with 14 points this season, and his six goals are tied for second-most among NEC players. Ahola and Lasarte both lead the team and are tied for third in the league with three assists each, and Lasarte is second on the team with seven points this season (two goals, three assists). Shefqeti and sophomore Joshua Ferreira have each tallied two goals as well, with Shefqeti also coming into the match with two assists for six points total. Junior goalkeeper Jahmali Waite is third in the league with a 1.10 goals-against average and is fourth with 40 saves for a .769 save percentage this season.
 
NEC UPDATE
Entering Friday, the Knights are fifth in the NEC with five points, trailing fourth-place Mount St. Mary's by one point. LIU is directly behind the Knights with four points entering Friday. Bryant and Saint Francis U are currently tied for the top spot in the NEC tournament hunt with nine points, and Robert Morris sits above Mount St. Mary's with seven points.
 
SERIES HISTORY
FDU has the advantage over LIU with a 32-30-5 all-time series record that dates back to the 1955 season. The Knights got the upper hand in the regular season between the two teams in Brooklyn last year, winning 2-0 in a regular season finale that propelled the Knights into the NEC Tournament. LIU, however, won the ensuing NEC Semifinal rematch in Brooklyn, 1-0. The two teams have played each other in each of the last two NEC Tournaments and have won 12 of the 30 previous NEC titles (FDU 7, LIU 5).
 
SCOUTING LIU
The Sharks (4-6-1, 1-1-1 NEC) fell to Merrimack, 2-1, in their previous match last Friday and have dropped two of their past three games overall. The rebranded LIU merged the two teams from LIU Brooklyn and LIU Post campuses before the start of the 2019-20 academic year, with the Brookville campus serving as home for LIU soccer. Freshman Papa Ndoye leads the team with four goals in eight matches, and he is one of three players along with Kyle Parish and Athanasios Coutroumpas that has totaled eight points this year. Goalkeeper Matias Pesallaccia has 39 saves in 11 matches and has allowed 1.65 goals per contest.
 
UP NEXT
The Knights continue their homestand next weekend with a matchup against St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, October 26, at 7 p.m. The team will be also be hosting Alumni Day activities before the game and will be conducting a halftime ceremony with alumni in attendance.