JERSEY CITY, N.J. – FDU men's soccer (2-0-1, 0-0) picked up a 4-1 road victory over Saint Peter's (0-3-0, 0-0) on Saturday afternoon.
The Knights jumped out to an early advantage in their first road match of the season. In the eighth minute, Saint Peter's defender Samuel Rudjord was issued a red card. On the ensuing free kick, Luke Ayaz buried a goal in the high right corner to put the Knights ahead 1-0. The goal goes down as the second of the season for the Knights' sophomore, moving him into a tie atop the NEC leaderboard.
FDU rode the 1-0 lead into the halftime break, before unleashing a scoring barrage in the second half. Just 1:44 into the second half of play, Matt Giraldo put a shot into the net, extending the Knight lead to 2-0. The score was the first of the season for the 2024 NEC All-Second Team member. Giraldo and Ayaz were joined on the scoresheet by NK Tima in the 59th minute. Tima buried a shot off of a Takuto Nishide assist, scoring his first goal of the 2025 campaign.
Saint Peter's was able to cut into the Knights' 3-0 lead in the 62nd minute. Goalkeeper Matheus Franca was issued a yellow card, giving the Peacocks' Tim Strele a chance at a penalty kick. Strele buried the chance, putting his team on the board.
It took the Knights just four minutes to get that goal back, as in the 66th minute, Arnau Rabassa Guillamon laced a shot into the net to extend FDU's lead to 4-1.
FDU got another solid performance in goal out of junior Matheus Franca. The Knights goalie played 74 minutes, picking up a save and only allowing a goal on Strele's penalty chance. Franca was relieved by Noah Resucher, who finished the match with his first 14 minutes as a Knight.
FDU will travel up to face Siena on Wednesday, Sep 3. Kickoff will come at 5:00 p.m.
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Presto's Pizza is the presenting sponsor of the 2025 FDU men's soccer season
