Oct. 16, 2007

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - Kevin Blanco and Kayo Emojong combined on the game's only goal and goalkeeper Josh Osit backed a solid team defensive effort for NJIT in its 1-0 men's soccer win over visiting Longwood in Atlantic Soccer Conference action Tuesday night on Lubetkin Field.

Emojong, a defensive midfielder, picked up his first career goal, finishing a cross from Blanco at 32:10 for what would be the only scoring of the night.

In goal, Osit made seven saves en route to his second shutout of the season for the Highlanders. Longwood goalkeeper Brandt Youmans made three saves and had no chance of stopping the goal.

"It's good to get a 'W', that's for sure," said NJIT coach Pedro Lopes, whose team is 1-1-1 in its last three outings, with a 1-1 tie vs. Saint Joseph's (PA), a highly-competitive 2-1 loss at Rutgers and then the win over Longwood. "Tonight was a perfect example of how hard work and not losing concentration over 90 minutes can pay off with a win."

The Lancers, who applied heavy early pressure, forced Osit to make some big saves just past the middle of the first half when the game was still scoreless.

Sean Harney's shot from the right wing called on Osit to make a reflex save in the 24th minute and Longwood's Chernor Diallo broke in on Osit one-on-one, but the NJIT keeper smothered the ball at Diallo's feet.

"Longwood comes at you strong," said Lopes of the Lancers' early forays. "It's their style and we stole a win from them last year at their place (1-0 double overtime win), so we expected what happened. We withstood the first minutes and then it was our job to control the tempo, which I thought we did for the most part."

With Longwood having outshot the Highlanders, 5-0, in the first 25 minutes, Lopes inserted Blanco at the 28:04 mark and the move paid dividends barely four minutes later.

The junior, who delivers a high-energy spark, controlled the ball in the left corner, beat a defender and sent a low pass across the goalmouth, where Emojong, on the doorstep, deflected it past the helpless Youmans at 32:10.

"It was a great effort by Kevin to get by the right defender and then Kayo did a great job of using the weight of the ball and redirecting it into the goal," Lopes said. Blanco's play was especially gratifying to Lopes. "I always know what I'm going to get from Kevin," said the coach. "There's no question about what he'll do. He's a guy who will run through a brick wall for the team and I know he'll do that every time."

The Highlanders nearly made it 2-0 in the closing minutes of the first half. Erik Magnusson, also in the left corner, crossed to Gustav Warfving whose shot was parried away by Youmans, who then stopped Pat Amato's try on the rebound.

NJIT had another chance early in the second half, but Warfving, who had broken free on a counter attack, shot just over the top in the 48th minute.

As the half wore on, the Highlanders did not go into a shell, but they took increasing advantage of the clock and their 1-0 lead.

"We've acted to address the issue of giving up easy goals, which killed us earlier in the season," said Lopes. "Going back to Saint Joe's we've avoided those kinds of mistakes and you can see the results."

That said, Longwood did not stop pressing for the equalizer and the Lancers made two excellent bids in the last half hour.

Yaron Bacher got off a blast from straight on and about 30 yards out, but Osit, who had a clear view, made the save in the 64th minute.

Then with the game heading toward the final minute, Longwood's Brian Germain controlled the ball less than 10 yards in front of the Highlander goal, but NJIT's Alex Brito came back to break up the play and cleared the ball with Osit in a bad position to make the stop if Germain had managed a strong shot.

NJIT will play its next two matches on the road, starting with a 7 pm match against Army at West Point, NY, next Tuesday.