TEANECK, N.J. – Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer junior Diego Arribas scored a golden goal winner to propel his team to a 4-3 overtime victory over St. Francis Brooklyn Saturday night at University Stadium.
 
The Knights (6-6-2, 2-2-2 NEC) trailed 3-2 late in the second half before redshirt senior Daniel Lasarte tied it up on a goal in the final minute, sending it to overtime. Seven minutes into the overtime period, sophomore Fallou Tounkara collected a loose ball and passed up ahead to Arribas, who fired a left-footed shot past the diving goalkeeper for his second score of the match and eighth of the season.
 
"That was a gutsy performance," head coach Seth Roland said after the match. "Sure we made some mistakes defensively and we need to do a better job with that, but our response is something I'm very proud of. We had a fighter's mentality to the end and deserved to win an incredible game."
 
Arribas now has a team-high 18 points this season after notching two goals, including the Knights' first tally in the 15th minute. Sophomore Ideal Shefqeti also recorded a goal for the Burgundy and Blue, and freshmen Ville Ahola and Peter Kozlej joined Tounkara in registering two assists apiece.
 
The Terriers (7-5-1, 3-4 NEC) opened the game with a score in the ninth minute on the first shot by either team. It only took six-and-a-half minutes for Arribas to strike back, finishing a leading pass from Ahola with his left foot inside the 18 to tie the match at 1-1.
 
Five minutes later, Kozlej crossed a pass from left to right to Shefqeti in front of the box, and the sophomore fired a laser strike from 25 yards out into the left corner for his third goal of the year, making it 2-1 FDU. Lasarte and Arribas each attempted shots to add to the first-half lead that were saved, keeping the score at 2-1 at the break.
 
St. Francis Brooklyn tied the match six minutes into the second period and later scored again on a free kick in the 54th minute to take a 3-2 lead. The FDU defense, however, dug in from there on out to deny the Terriers any further scores, with junior Jahmali Waite making five key saves over the last 30 minutes of the second half.
 
With the clock ticking down to a minute to go, Kozlej gathered the ball and passed out wide to Ahola, who served a cross into the box and connected with Lasarte for a header. Lasarte's shot lofted over the outstretched goalkeeper and into the upper right 90 for the tying goal with 56 seconds to go.
 
The Knights allowed only one shot in the overtime period and had a few tries of their own blocked before Arribas sent everyone home with his game winner in the 97th minute.
 
With the win, the Knights increase their point total to eight in the NEC standings, two behind Robert Morris and LIU for the fourth spot with three matches to go. Up next for FDU is a two-game road swing north to Bryant and Merrimack, with Bryant first up on Friday, November 1, at 3 p.m.
 
"We enjoy this for the moment, and then get ready for Bryant on Friday," Roland added.