BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn men's soccer team made it seven straight Friday night at home, when the Blackbirds beat Northeast Conference opponent Sacred Heart, 3-2 in overtime on LIU Field. Sophomore Fredrik Mathisen scored both the game-tying and game-winning goal for LIU, as the Blackbirds improve to 8-3-1 and 3-0 in the NEC, and remain undefeated in downtown Brooklyn.
 
The game was full of offensive firepower, as the two teams would combine for over 30 shots in 95 minutes of action. The Blackbirds would get on the board first in the 33^rd minute, scoring on a set piece. Senior Filip Nordström took the free kick, and arched it across the box, where he found junior Marius Koss. Koss got a header on it that landed just past the SHU keeper, and LIU was on the board, 1-0.
 
But in the second half, Sacred Heart would stun the Blackbirds. In the 71^st minute, Zander Hyltoft whacked the ball from midfield, seemingly to one of his teammates cutting downfield. But the ball arched over the defense and the keeper's head, and brushed the back of the net, knotting it up, 1-1. Less than a minute later, the Pioneers would take advantage of a stunned LIU defense, and Hyltoft would score again, with a big boot inside the 18.
 
The Blackbirds returned to form and collected themselves, pressuring SHU with a renewed offensive effort, and in the 79^th minute, it paid off. Freshman Huib Achterkamp, who was playing forward, dished it back to Mathisen, who was at the top of the eighteen. The sophomore took a dribble around his defender, and rocketed a shot off from the top of the box. It would sail past the SHU keeper, and the score was knotted up once more, 2-2.
 
The game would end in regulation without any more goals, despite both teams taking shots. In the overtime period, the two teams would fire another five shots off before one landed. And the one that would was LIU's. Nordström took a corner for the Blackbirds, and crossed the ball into the box. Mathisen was there, and fired the shot off, but it was blocked by an SHU defender. Mathisen collected his own rebound, and fired again, and this time, no one was there to block it, and the Norway native would clinch the win for the Blackbirds, 3-2.
 
Goalkeeper Sam Ilin had nine saves in net for the Blackbirds in the win.
 
Up next, the Blackbirds host Mount St. Mary's for Alumni and Senior Day on LIU Field, Sunday, October 14 at 1 p.m.