NEWARK, N.J. - The Marist women's soccer won its second game in four days as the Red Foxes went on the road and defeated NJIT by a score of 3-2 on Friday. The Red Foxes went back to its successful 2011 formula of scoring early and often as the team scored its first of three goals in the eighth minute. Junior Samantha Panzner (Livingston, N.J.) and seniors Chelsea Botta (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Jackie Frey (Monroe, N.Y.) tallied goals for Marist in the victory.
Marist opened the action fast as Panzner netted a goal on the team's first shot of the game at 7:25. The junior controlled the ball 25 yards from the net and dribbled through the box and past two defenders before unleashing a shot into the right corner.
A little over seven minutes later, the hosts tied the game up when Erin Williams-Weir converted a penalty kick opportunity at 14:38.
With the scored tied, the Red Foxes got back to work on the offensive side of the ball as the team tested NJIT's keeper Samantha Bersett on multiple occasions over the 14 minutes, as Panzner, Frey and Marjana Maksuti (Delmar, N.Y.) all had scoring attempts denied.
Finally in the 30th minute, Marist's presistance paid off as Botta netted her team-leading second goal on the young season off of a pass by sophomore Amanda Epstein (Jericho, N.Y.).
At the half, Marist had outshot NJIT by a count of 10-2.
In the second half, the offenses of both squads were evenly matched as the Red Foxes and Highlanders each took four shots over the first 30 minutes.
In the 83rd minute, Frey gave Marist a short-lived two goal lead as she took a pass from Panzner to net her 13th career marker.
Less than a minute later at 83:20, NJIT netted its second tally when Abi Fakolujo brought the score to 3-2. The final 6:40 played out without a shot attempted as the game went into the books at 3-2.
With the win, Marist improves its record to 2-0.
As a team, the Red Foxes outshot the Highlanders 15-7 with a 9-3 advantage in shots on goal. For the second consecutive game, Marist held its opponent without a corner kick as they had three opportunities to none for NJIT.
Individually, Frey, Botta and Rycke Guiney (Naperville, Ill.) each recorded three shots. Sophomore Andrea Wicks (East Northport, N.Y.) was credited with the win in goal as she moved to 2-0 on the season.
The Red Foxes will next be in action on Sunday, Aug. 26 when they travel to Hamilton, N.Y. to take on Colgate in a 1 p.m. matchup.
