FAIRFIELD, CT—NJIT freshman Samuel Jester scored his second goal of the season in the 11th minute at Sacred Heart and the score held the rest of the way, as the visiting Highlanders notched a 1-0 victory Wednesday afternoon in their final regular season away game of 2015.
 
Jester, who was the 2014 state player of the year in Delaware as a freshman, headed home the goal from six yards out to give NJIT all the scoring it would need. Sophomore Phillip Costa, who fed Jester with a crossing pass was credited with an assist on the tally at 10:48.
 
Christian Foust, who last played on September 20, returned in goal for NJIT against Sacred Heart and made seven saves for his second shutout of the season in seven starts.
 
The victory in what was their final non-conference game of the year, as well as the final away game on the schedule, leaves the Highlanders with an overall record of 5-8-4, including a road record of 3-5-2. NJIT was 2-1-1 in away games since the calendar turned to October.
 
Wednesday's defeat drops Sacred Heart of the Northeast Conference to 1-12-1 overall and the loss was the 11th in a row for the Pioneers, whose only win was a 2-1 victory in two overtimes way back on September 4 at home against Connecticut in-state rival Yale.
 
Sacred Heart lost on Wednesday despite outshooting the visiting Highlanders 22-13 overall, including 8-5 in shots on goal. Pioneer senior goalkeeper Tucker Hackett stopped four NJIT shots. All of his saves came in the opening half.
 
NJIT will wrap up the regular season with a Sun Belt Conference game at home on Saturday at 5 pm, when the Highlanders host Appalachian State. Saturday's game will be preceded by Senior Day ceremonies honoring Eugene Listwan, Joshua Mercer, Jimmy Myers, and Tommy Ospitan, all of whom are slated to play the last home game in their college careers.
 
After hosting Appalachian State on Saturday, the Highlanders will go to Appalachian's home in Boone, NC, for the Sun Belt Conference tournament, which begins on Thursday, November 12 and concludes with the championship game on September 15. The Sun Belt champion will earn an automatic berth in the 2015 NCAA College Cup championship tournament field.