Sept. 4, 2009

Box Score

EASTON, Pa. - So far this fall, rookies have accounted for the entire scoring output of the Lafayette men's soccer team as on Friday night, freshmen Blake Fink and Sean Peckham led their Leopards to a 2-1 victory over NJIT. With the home-opening win, Lafayette improved to 2-0 this season.

Fink and Peckham both netted goals, the firsts of their collegiate careers. The Highlanders (0-2) failed to get a single corner kick opportunity while the Leopards had five. Lafayette (2-0) also held a 10-6 edge in shots.

For the first 45 minutes of the action, it looked like offense would be at a premium for both squads. The Lafayette defense held the Highlanders without a single shot in that opening half while the Leopards themselves took six. Only one of those shots forced NJIT goalie Ryan Sutherland to make a save, however, and the half expired following a corner kick by sophomore Adam Allers.

It was a different game in the second half as the teams scored all three of their goals in a roughly one-minute span. Fink got the scoring started with a goal at the 69:30 mark on an assist from Peckham.

It took NJIT (0-2) less than 45 seconds to respond when Rahim Stennett knotted the game at one with an unassisted score.

Peckham took even less time to snap the tie when he scored an unassisted goal of his own to give the 2-1 lead back to Lafayette.

NJIT fired off two more shots in the remaining 20 minutes, including a shot by Osvaldo Perez with less than eight minutes to play that was saved by goalie Philip Nelson. Nelson finished the night with three saves.

The Leopards failed to get another look at goal but a solid defensive effort made sure those two goals were enough to clinch the win.

The Leopards are back in action on Sunday when they travel to Temple for a 1 p.m. match.