NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer team rallied in the first half at Merrimack with freshman Peter Kozlej scoring a tying goal shortly before halftime, but a Merrimack penalty kick goal in the 107th minute resulted in a 2-1 road loss.
 
The Knights (6-8-2, 2-4-2 NEC) held the Warriors (10-3-2), who are unbeaten in the NEC at 8-0, to just an early goal through 90 minutes thanks to great defensive efforts from the backline of seniors Wojciech Piwowarczyk and Quentie Kyeremateng, redshirt sophomore Adrian Barajas, sophomore Anthony Herbert and freshman Jared Subarsky. Junior goalkeeper Jahmali Waite also made six saves, including five in the first half, to keep the match tied at 1-1 through regulation.
 
FDU eventually answered Merrimack's goal in the sixth minute with a score of its own, as Kozlej one-timed with his right foot a deflected ball from just outside 20 yards, sending the ball on a hard line into the left upper 90 for his second goal of the season.
 
The two teams combined for only six shots in the entire second half, with Waite making a big play to stop a potential Merrimack go-ahead goal at the 60-minute mark on the only shot on target.
 
The Knights played stellar defense in the first overtime, not allowing any of Merrimack's four shot attempts into the net and forcing the game into a second extra period. The Warriors attempted the only shot of the second overtime before a foul call in the box allowed the home team a penalty kick try, which was successfully put into the corner of the net for the winning score.

"I'm proud of the incredibly gutsy effort the guys put in against a very good Merrimack team," head coach Seth Roland said after the game.
 
With the loss, FDU remains at eight points in the NEC standings, two behind St. Francis Brooklyn and Robert Morris (10 points each) for the fourth and final NEC Tournament spot with one game remaining. A win over Mount St. Mary's (9 points) next Sunday plus losses for St. Francis Brooklyn and Robert Morris would clinch a tournament spot for FDU. FDU can also make the NEC Tournament with a win, a St. Francis Brooklyn tie and a Robert Morris loss due to a tiebreaker advantage courtesy of its win over the Terriers two weeks ago. A third way FDU can earn the final playoff spot is if the Knights win and both RMU and SFBK tie, with the Knights having the three-way tiebreaker again due to their win over the Terriers.
 
FDU's Senior Day match against the Mount on Sunday, November 10, starts at 1 p.m., at University Stadium.