After his team’s Saturday afternoon match against NJIT, men’s soccer head coach Craig Jones said the Colonials had their best 90 minutes of the year.

GW recorded the contest’s only goal from the penalty spot after freshman midfielder Brady O’Connor was pulled down in the box after a cross. He finished a low shot around the diving NJIT goalkeeper in the 52nd minute.

The Colonials (3-4-1) held on to defeat the Highlanders (6-2-2) 1–0 and pick up their first home victory of 2017.

“Once we got the goal we knew we just had to dig deep and see the result out,” senior Christian Lawal said. “I have no issues with just seeing a game out 1–0, a win is a win.”

Jones was forced to go without senior midfielder Oliver Curry – who was nursing a calf injury – and redshirt senior Ben Ogedegbe – who was sick. The lineup changes, along with the heat, forced GW to rely on players in new roles.

Lawal – who is listed as a forward – played center back and several Colonials switched in and out of the wing positions during the game.

“It’s not easy to switch positions in general,” Lawal said. “But I’ve always been comfortable playing in defenses growing up so moving back was a much easier transition for me than moving from defense to midfield.”

Lawal was tasked with defending senior forward Mamadou Guirassy – the Highlanders’ most aggressive attacking player.

“He is a big, physical guy, but we managed to keep him quiet so I am pretty happy with that,” Lawal said.

Despite the changes, the Colonials defense limited the Highlanders’ scoring options and did not allow a shot on goal for a 44-minute stretch in the middle of the game. Junior goalkeeper Thor Arne Höfs made seven saves in the outing and picked up his second clean sheet of the season.

“Not just the back four and Thor, but overall our team defending was a lot better today,” Jones said. “When we can defend with 10 or 11 guys it just helps us.”

Two of the three shots on goal in the first half came during the opening six minutes of the game. Freshman forward Oscar Haynes Brown took a hard shot from outside the 18-yard box in the first minute and Guirassy forced Höfs to make his only first-half save with a lofted attempt.

In the 9th minute, Lawal took a free kick that located junior forward Dylan Lightbourn in the box. Lightbourn’s following shot missed its mark.

The 6-foot-3-inch Bahamas native would get another threatening attempt 10 minutes later after a cross from Haynes Brown. Although he was temporarily open in front of the six-yard box, Lightbourn was unable to get a shot off.

GW controlled the pace of play and the majority of the possession for the final 20 minutes of the first half. The Colonials had four scoring opportunities during the stretch, including a bouncing shot from Lawal off of a corner, but did not find the scoreboard.

Three minutes before the halftime whistle, a defensive mistake by GW led to a 2-on-1 for the NJIT. The Highlanders were unable to get a shot near the goal and the contest went into the break scoreless.

NJIT came out of the half with more pressure on the Colonials defense than the entire first half. After coming up empty on a free kick and a breakaway, Highlanders senior midfielder Paulino Marques took a dipping shot that Höfs deflected over the crossbar.

Following O’Connor’s goal, the Highlanders had another two opportunities in GW’s defensive box. Both times Höfs collected and cleared the balls.

The two sides traded opportunities for the next 25 minutes with neither team gaining any significant offensive advantages.

With seven minutes to play, Guirassy found an opening towards the goal but was shut down before right before a shot was taken by a slide tackle from Lawal.

GW’s fatigue was evident during the last few minutes of the game. The Colonials had a difficult time clearing the ball and Höfs made a diving stop with four minutes on the clock.

“Three games in seven days is tough, we were certainly tired in the heat,” Jones said. “The last five we were just running on fumes a little bit.”

The Colonials will return to action Tuesday when they travel to Stony Brook to take on the Seawolves (5-2-1) for their final non-conference matchup at 7 p.m.