 |
 Sophomore Erik Magnusson |
Sept. 21, 2007
NEWARK, NJ - Visiting Florida Atlantic got a goal in each half from substitute Igor Santos and the Owls scored a hard-fought 2-0 men's soccer win over NJIT in the Atlantic Soccer Conference opener for both teams Friday night on Lubetkin Field.
Santos, who did not have a previous goal this year for FAU, now 4-3 overall, entered as a sub midway through the first half and converted a pass from Liam Ogle in the 34th minute. He added an insurance goal just 31 seconds into the second half, finishing an assist by Dag Bjorgum.
The opportunistic Santos was the recipient of good plays by the men who set him up. With the game still scoreless, Ogle found Santos near the top of the box and his hard shot hit the left goalpost, but the carom spun back across and into the goal at 33:30.
The second goal came when Bjorgum, taking advantage of a momentary defensive lapse, carried the ball into the box, beat a defender and sent the ball ahead to Santos, who picked up the insurance tally.
Despite Santos' scoring, the game-changing play for the Owls may have been a save by goalkeeper Phillip Lamarre in the 30th minute.
The Highlanders, working hard as they did all night, were pressing forward when Erik Magnusson came down the right wing and sent a pass across the goal mouth. The near-perfect feed found Brian Nash, who took a strong point blank head shot that Lamarre somehow deflected for a save.
Lamarre, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, was commanding in front of his goal and finished with seven saves to record the shutout. NJIT keeper Josh Osit made four saves and could not be faulted on either Florida Atlantic goal.
The shots were extremely close, with FAU enjoying a 9-8 edge in overall attempts and NJIT putting more shots on goal, 7-6. The corner kicks were even at two apiece.
"Today we competed," said NJIT coach Pedro Lopes. "We saw a lot of things that have been missing lately. We challenged the team to outwork the opponents and by outwork, I mean outrun.
"Our guys did a good job of working, playing quickly and putting balls in the box. The only thing that was missing was a couple of goals."
Next on the slate for NJIT is a non-conference home match against New Jersey rival Rider Tuesday at 7 pm on Lubetkin Field.
