Men’s Soccer Rallies Back for Draw with NJIT

Newark, N.J. – (September 2, 2019) – Trailing 2-0 in the first half and fighting a raucous crowd, the Fordham men's soccer team showed plenty of character and moxie on Monday night, rallying back to earn a 2-2 draw at NJIT at Lubetkin Field in Newark, N.J.
 
Fordham had control of play over the first 25 minutes with the best scoring chance coming on a Jacob Bohm corner kick, which found Johannes Pieles for a header that glanced off the left post and out of play.
 
NJIT then countered in the 26^th minute, getting the ball in the box where Fordham's Luke McNamara was called for a foul, awarding a penalty kick to the Highlanders.  Rene White stepped up to the spot and scored into the right side of the goal.

 
Five minutes later, the Highlanders made it 2-0 in the 31^st minute, when Gerald Cubero's cross from the right side found Thomas Radon, who finished from 12 yards out for his second goal of the season.
 
The Rams stemmed the tide in the 36^th minute, cutting the deficit to 2-1.  Jack Sluys made a long throw in to the six-yard box, where Filippo Ricupati fought off two NJIT defenders and chipped the ball under the crossbar for his first goal of the season.
 
Fordham then pushed forward to get the equalizer in the second half, with multiple chances either clearing or hitting the crossbar.  The Rams eventually found the tying goal in the 85^th minute, as Pieles was hauled down in the box for a penalty kick chance.  Joergen Oland stepped to the spot and hammered a shot into the heart of the net to tie the game at two.
 
The game then flew into overtime with both teams having opportunities at the golden goal.  Sameer Fathazada slipped a shot from in tight at the left side of goal that NJIT goalkeeper Samuel Reisgys just got a piece of to deflect it out of play in the 93^rd minute.  Then at the other end, Andrew Nino smoked a free kick off the top right corner of the goal and out of play in the 94^th minute.
 
In the end, the match ended in a 2-2 draw with Fordham having a 26-10 edge in shots, as well as a 7-3 advantage in corners.  Konstantin Weis ended the match with one save for Fordham with Reisgys having six for the Highlanders.
 
The Fordham men's soccer team will next be in action on Saturday, September 7^th, when the Rams host Rider at 7:00 PM at Jack Coffey Field.