NJIT Sweeps Home Swim Meet vs. Manhattan and St. Francis Brooklyn

The NJIT men’s swimming team celebrated its first home meet of 2014-15 with wins over visiting Manhattan and St. Francis Brooklyn in the Fleisher Athletic Center pool Saturday afternoon.

The meet involved the men’s teams from NJIT, Manhattan, and St. Francis, plus the women’s teams from Manhattan and St. Francis (NJIT does not have a women’s team). The men’s portion of events were scored as separate dual meets. In other words, NJIT vs. Manhattan; NJIT vs. St. Francis; and, Manhattan vs. St. Francis, even though all three teams could physically compete in the same race.

When the scores were tallied, NJIT came out on top against both of its opponents, defeating Manhattan 150-122 and topping St. Francis Brooklyn 193-65.

The top performer for the Highlanders was Scott Quirie, who broke another two school records. The freshman placed first in all four of his races, including the 400 medley relay with teammates Richard Seffrin, Collin Moore, and Anthony Czar.

The freshman also finished first and broke the NJIT record in the 100-yard backstroke (53.25) and the 200 yard IM (1:58.36). He also placed first in the 200-yard backstroke (1:56.08).

Collin Moore, also a freshman for the Highlanders, broke the school record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 52.94. Moore’s new record broke a mark that had stood since 2008. He added a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:58.96.

NJIT swept first, second and third in two events. The first sweep being the 200-yard freestyle, where sophomore Anthony Czar finished first (1:47.03), followed by Moore (1:48.79) and sophomore Michael Sungurov (1:48.82).

The second Highlander sweep was the 500-yard freestyle and Czar came in first again with a time of 4:58.74, followed by Maxim Tillman (5:02.60), and Gene Tutzauer (5:14.31).

Junior Richard Seffrin also has a good day for the Highlanders. Along with the first-place 400 medley finish, he also took second in the 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM, and third in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Maxim Tillman, yet another freshman standout, also finished first in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:15.18, and Gene Tutzauer, a senior, placed third with a time of 10:45.38.

Other notable swimmers for NJIT were: senior Christian Giglio, who placed second in the 100-yard backstroke (54.41) and in the 200-yard backstroke (1:59.39); freshman Edward Mann, who finished fourth with a time of 57.96 in the 100-yard backstroke; in the 200-yard breaststroke, junior Jonathan Drori finished fourth and sophomore Timothy Sullivan finished sixth.

Jack Matusiak, a sophomore, finished sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke, while fellow sophomore Joseph Pedo placed seventh in the 50-yard freestyle and junior Joseph Nguyen placed eighth in the 100-yard butterfly. Freshman Alexander Hilsamer had personal bests in the 100 and 200 yard breaststroke.

Head Coach Mike Lawson was pleased with his team saying: “Our team really showed their heart today in our win against both Manhattan and St. Francis. I am really proud of all the school records and personal-best swims swam today. This is the first time since 2008 that we won against Manhattan. This was a definitive win against both teams.”

The Highlanders next meet is Friday. November 7, at Saint Peter’s at 7pm.

Georgia Southern Nips NJIT 1-0 on Late Goal in Sun Belt Conference Showdown

Eric Dinka’s goal in the 80th minute for host Georgia Southern sent his team past visiting NJIT in what soon became a 1-0 final. In turn, the victorious Eagles soared to the top of the Sun Belt Conference men’s soccer standings with one regular season conference weekend still to be played.

Dinka, a junior who moved into a tie for the Georgia Southern goal-scoring lead (4) despite having made just two starts in his 11 appearances, found the mark at 79:21, driving home a 15-yarder off of a feed from Blake Wilson.

The razor’s edge loss means NJIT can do no better than to finish tied for first place in the Sun Belt Conference regular season and the Highlanders need to win their regular season finale and get help in the two other four Sun Belt games next weekend.

Georgia Southern and NJIT both entered Sunday’s tilt with 2-1 Sun Belt Conference records, good for 6 points and a second-place tie behind Hartwick, which had 7 points, but was idle from the conference this week.

A draw in Sunday’s game would have made for a 3-way tie atop the standings entering the final regular season games. Instead, Georgia Southern vaults into the top spot with 9 points, while NJIT stands still at 6 points, still a point behind Hartwick’s 7.

After Sunday, Georgia Southern is 7-7 overall and 3-1 in the Sun Belt and NJIT is 7-6-4 overall and 2-2 in the Sun Belt.

NJIT’s 2-2 Sun Belt Conference record includes 1-0 road losses to the two teams above it in the standings, Georgia Southern and Hartwick. Tied with the Highlanders at 2-2 in the Sun Belt is Georgia State, a team NJIT defeated in the first conference match.

The score at Sunday’s final whistle Sunday was not reflected on the stat sheet. NJIT doubled the home team in overall shots, 18-9, and even more, 8-3, in shots on target. The Highlanders also had a 7-4 lead in corner kicks.

The total shots were even in the opening half at 4 apiece, but NJIT fired 14 attempts in the second half to 5 for the home team. Still, Dinka’s shot for the Eagles was the only one to find its way into the net.

Georgia Southern junior goalkeeper Jack Falle, the reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week, made 8 saves, including 7 in the second half and a pair in the final 93 seconds. He denied Highlander

Stephen McGeever at 88:27 and he made his final big stop on NJIT’s Marko Drljic 16 seconds from time to preserve the slim lead and the win. McGeever finished with 3 shots on goal, matching senior teammate Jason Chippy.

The clean sheet was Falle’s fifth this season overall and his third in Sun Belt Conference action, all wins for the first-place Eagles.

NJIT goalkeeper Christian Foust was credited with two saves, one in each half, in his 90 minutes of action.

The final regular season weekend in the Sun Belt Conference will feature all six teams in action on Saturday, November 8. First-place Georgia Southern visits in-state rival Georgia State. NJIT will visit Appalachian State (7 pm in Boone, NC) and Hartwick will host Howard.

Depending on the combination of results, NJIT could finish anywhere from a first-place tie all the way down to fourth place.

And after things are sorted out next Saturday, the whole thing will reset for the Sun Belt Conference championship tournament, the winner earning an automatic berth in the 2014 NCAA Division I College Cup tournament field. Five of the six Sun Belt teams will gather at host Georgia Southern for the championship tournament from November 13 through November 16.