MADISON, N.J. -- Celebrating senior night at a rain-soaked Robert T. Shields Field, the FDU-Florham men's soccer team pulled out a crucial 2-1 victory over Manhattanville College on Wednesday night.
The Devils (5-8-3, 3-2 Freedom) now sit tied for third place with King's College in the Freedom Conference standings and a game-up on the Valiants (6-10, 2-3 Freedom).
Junior
Chaz Armand (Westlake, Ga.) was the man of the match on Wednesday and netted both scores for FDU-Florham. The junior forward is now tied for the team lead in goals with four on the campaign.
It took only 3:46 for the Devils to get on the board as senior captain
Tommy Asselta (Bethpage, N.Y.) found
Andrew Ruane (Parsippany, N.J.) streaking into the box. Ruane drew out Valiants' goalkeeper
Steve Singson and sent a perfect pass across the net to Armand, who buried it for the night's first goal.
The game's pace settled in with both teams earning several scoring chances but the Devils held the one-goal lead at intermission. The Valiants held a narrow 4-3 edge in first-half shot attempts.
In the second half, the two teams grew more comfortable in the rainy conditions and the tempo picked up. Over the first five minutes of the second stanza, the Valiants fired three-quality shots but FDU-Florham goalkeeper
Nick Mihalik (Wayne, N.J.) was up to task and turned away each effort.
At the 56:55 mark, the Valiants broke through when
Rob Hammerle got behind the Devils defense and sent a cross to
Robin Schaufele. Schaufele promptly fired the pass into the back of the net for the game's equalizer.
However, the game did not remained tied for long. Less than three minutes later, Armand headed a bouncing throw-in from Ruane past Singson for the game-winning score. Following the goal, the Devils defense stiffened and limited the Valiants to just two more chances over the remainder of regulation to preserve the victory.
With his two assists, Ruane now leads the team with four helpers on the season. Mihalik played oustanding in the win and made seven stops to earn the victory.
Next up for the Devils:FDU-Florham heads to Dallas, Pa. this Saturday, October 25th to battle with Misericordia University. Start time is set for 5:30 p.m.
