PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University men's soccer peppered St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) with shots in the first two halves but it took being backed in a corner for the Gothic Knights to remain perfect on the season. NJCU could not score on its first 27 shots of the game but after the Bears broke through in the 83rd minute, sophomore forward Theo Sanoh (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) came up big, tying the game just 61 seconds later before winning the game on the only shot either team had in overtime as NJCU prevailed 2-1 (1 OT) on the opening day of the St. Joseph's College (LI) Invitational.
 
Sanoh netted his second brace in a week, putting away goals on NJCU's 28th and 30th shots of the game as the Gothic Knights kept alive their unblemished start to the 2016 season behind new head coach Joseph Cullen. The win lifts NJCU to a 5-0-0 ledger to open a season for the first time since posting the same mark to open 2001, and just one win shy of the best start ever in the 58-year history of the program. St. Joseph's fell to 2-2-0.
 
Sanoh netted his third and fourth goals for NJCU, all after re-entering the game in the 74th minute. NJCU outshot the Bears 30-8—11-3 in the first half and 18-5 in the second—and owned a 14-2 advantage in shots on goals. Senior midfielder Davauni Brown (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech) assisted the overtime winner—his fourth assist and 14th point of the season.
 
Julian Rodriguez kept the Bears in the game with 14 saves—five in the first half and nine in the second. Freshman goalkeeper Adam Cassidy (Jersey City, N.J./County Prep) made two saves to preserve his fifth win.
 
Sanoh had a game-high seven shots (five on goal) while Brown added five shots (three on goal). Junior back Luis Cruz (Princeton, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro South) and freshman midfielder Jose Salazar (Jersey City, N.J./Union City) each added four shots. No SJCBK player had more than two attempts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
With the game still scoreless in the waning minutes of the second half, the Bears got on the board in the neutral pitch matchup. At 82:05, Cesar Oviedo was freed up on a feed from Michael Ortiz and in a 1-on-1 with Cassidy was able to get St. Joseph's on the board.
 
That was enough to motivate NJCU's offense to get the equalizer and two shots and 61 seconds letter, Sanoh pounced on a loose ball in the box and put it away at 83:06 to tie it at 1-1. Each keeper made one final save in the final seven minutes to force overtime.
 
Then, on the first opportunity of the overtime period, Sanoh won it for the Gothic Knights. Just 2:16 into the overtime period, Brown crossed a ball to the left post and Sanoh was there to finish it.
 
#QUOTABLEKNIGHTS:
Head Coach Joe Cullen on the outcome: "We can't be overly happy about the inability to put an opponent away when we had so many opportunities but I am proud of the resilience and the bounce back the guys showed today. Sometimes the game wants to be difficult and not go your way but we kept at it and managed to find the goals we needed to come away with the W. Theo was able to find himself in good spots and put the game away for us."
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: First meeting.
• NJCU is 5-0-0 to start a season for the first time since going 5-0-0 in 2001 when it won its first five games and went 12-1 in the first 13. The 2006 team also was 13-1-1.
• The best record to start a season is 6-0-0 in 1966 for a team that finished 9-1-1.
• 129th overtime game in program history (27-61-71).

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Knights seek to finish first in a classic tournament for the second time this season when it meets host St. Joseph's (LI) on September 11 at 2:30 p.m. NJCU is 8-2-1 all-time in the series with St. Joseph's (LI) and had its seven-game winning streak in the series snapped in a 1-0 loss on October 13, 2014. The Eagles (0-3) lost to Plattsburgh State (4-0), by a 4-1 margin in Saturday's other opening round game.