TEANECK, N.J. - The FDU Knights improve their record to 2-0 with a 4-3 victory over Fairfield. Tonight's game had two major topics:
Kevin Leonhard and the unfortunate lightning. Leonhard contributed two goals and one assist in the win over the Stags, while the lightning caused for a mid-game pause moments away from halftime.
Kevin Leonhard struck first for the Knights in the first half where he jumped over a diving goalkeeper to connect the ball to the back of the net. Assisted by
Alex Kryazhev, Leonhard put the Knights up 1-0 with just over 12 minutes left in the first half.
Just five minutes after a thrilling goal from Leonhard, the game was put on pause for approximately two hours due to lightning in the area, but resumed in the late hours of the evening to complete the contest. The Knights found energy in their return to the pitch where they scored three more goals.
Coming back from the delay, the first half was closed out with a stagnant 1-0 lead for the Knights, thanks to Leonhard's clutch goal before the delay. The senior forward kept his momentum moving into the second half where he broke away from the pack with two defenders on him and scored his second goal of the night off an assist from
Mamadi Sangare to boost the Knights lead to 2-0. With this goal, Leonhard matched his career-high of two goals in a game, a personal best that he set his sophomore season against Northeast Conference foe, Stonehill.
In the 63
rd minute, FDU's own,
Matt Giraldo, struck next. With a corner kick for FDU, the ball was bounced around the box, but Giraldo booted the ball into an opening to the right side of the goal to boost the Knights lead to 3-0.
Just under five minutes later, the FDU execution of plays paid off when the Knights found the net one last time off the head of
Nk Tima. The Knights gained opportunity through a corner kick that was taken by Leonhard who found Tima in the box. The graduate student defender scored his second career goal off a header once again to give the Knights their final goal of the night and bring the score to 4-0 in the 69
th minute of play.
The Stags late burst of energy was not enough to take down the Knights as they scored a quick three goals, but couldn't make up the deficit closing the game with a 4-3 victory for FDU.
When talking with head coach
Jaymee Highcock after the game he had this to say about the show the squad put on for fans, "I'm proud of our guys tonight. A two hour lightning delay was not easy to deal with but we showed great character and quality to go 4-0 up in the game. We played some great attacking football and put together a really strong offensive display. As of all games, we will reflect, learn and get better from tonight's game."
WHAT'S NEXT
The Knights will kick off a four-game road series this Friday, August 30 when they face Navy in Annapolis, Md. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m and you can stream all of the action on ESPN+.
Follow the Knights on Instagram and X @FDUKnightsMSOC
