Sept. 22, 2007

Box Score

FAEMVILLE, VA - The first victory of the 2007 season remained elusive for the NJIT women's soccer team, but it again came tantalizingly close in a 1-0 loss Saturday at Longwood.

It was the first-ever United Soccer Conference match for NJIT and the 2007 USC conference opener for both schools.

Longwood (2-4 overall and 1-0 in the USC) got the game's only score more than halfway through the second half, as Alex Myers scored her first college goal at 71:32.

NJIT, which is in its first season as a full championship-eligible NCAA Division I program, battled Longwood closely throughout the opening conference game.

The game was scoreless at the intermission. A shot by Longwood's Kayla Huggins bounced off the crossbar to go with five first-half saves by NJIT's standout freshman goalkeeper Sadie Mele.

The second half was more of the same close play before Myers received a nice through-ball pass from freshman classmate Joanna Montefinese and successfully beat Mele on a breakaway.

Mele, a two-time USC Goalie of the Week already this fall, made three more saves during the second half to help keep NJIT close and finish with eight saves for the match.

Longwood's Marcia Biddle, a redshirt freshman, made four saves to notch her first college shutout.

Longwood took a 14-6 advantage in shots--7-3 in each half--while NJIT had a 6-4 edge in corner kicks.

Amanda Bayiokos got off two shots on goal for the Highlanders, while Dena Baskous and Aine O'Dwyer were each on target with one attempt.

NJIT, which is in its second season facing a schedule of Division I opponents, has made huge competitive strides and nowhere is that more evident than in the defensive totals.

NJIT has not allowed more than one goal in regulation in any of its six contests. Five of the team's 2007 losses have come by 1-0 counts and the sixth was a 2-1 overtime loss that was tied 1-1 after 90 minutes.

The 2007 total of six defensive games of two goals or less surpasses the entire 15-game 2006 total, when the Highlanders held the opposition under three goals five times, with two contests where they allowed one goal or less.

The 2007 Highlanders have bettered both benchmarks already, having limited all six opponents to two goals or less, including five foes to one goal.

NJIT, which began a stretch of eight straight road games with the visit to Longwood, will head to upstate New York to Binghamton University in the town of Vestal on Tuesday at 7 pm.

(game descriptions courtesy of Longwood University Media Relations)