Houston Baptist is 1-1 in its first year as a member of the ASC, having lost its conference debut, 2-0, Friday at Adelphi. The Highlanders are 0-2 in conference play after Sunday's defeat and a  loss at Longwood on October 4.

Saryee's decisive tally was a well-taken shot from about 10 yards out after receiving a crossing pass from the right wing by Adam Jakle. Taking the feed from Jakle, Saryee fired across the goal mouth and into the lower left corner at 66:38. It was his first goal of the season.

Houston Baptist goalkeeper Chris Dodd made a personal season-high nine saves in his fourth shutout of 2008. NJIT senior Ryan Sutherland, making his fourth start of the season, recorded four saves.

Despite the final score, defense did not rule the day. The teams combined for 29 shots, including 14 on goal. NJIT had a 19-10 advantage in overall shots and a 9-5 lead in shots on goal. The corner kicks were even at seven apiece.

The first half belonged to the Highlanders, but they had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.  The total shots for the half were 14-3 for NJIT, which had an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal in the 45 minutes.

NJIT had seven quality first-half chances before Houston Baptist mounted its own threat in the 44th minute. Among the Highlander threats in the first half were: a free kick from 25 yards by Patrick O'Driscoll that was tipped over the top of the goal by Dodd in the 19th minute; a shot wide left two minutes later in tight space by Gustav Warfving; a hard shot right at Dodd in the 25th minute by Devon Newton; two quick saves by Dodd in the 27th minute, first on a shot by Eddie Romero and then on the rebound by Warfving; a shot over the top from in front of the goal by Kayo Emojong; and a hard shot from Romero in the 42nd minute, again, right at Dodd.

Houston Baptist's Lorne Cameron headed the ball over the top off of a free kick with less than a minute left in the first half.

NJIT did not dominate the second half, but the Highlanders had perhaps their best chance of the day in the 50th minute, when Erik Magnusson beat Dodd, only to have the try hit the left goal post.

Houston Baptist gradually gained more of the play and NJIT's Sutherland made two fine saves on one sequence in the 53rd minute. George Sangira got loose on a counterattacking breakaway and Sutherland came far off his line to cut off the angle and make the sliding save. A rebound then came loose to Mateus Lessa, but Sutherland made another stop to keep the game scoreless.

The Huskies and Saryee had another dangerous opportunity in the 57th minute with a hard shot that deflected off the body of a Highlander defender and over the top of the goal for a corner kick.

Both teams pressed the attack after Saryee's goal and the Highlanders' Romero put the ball in the net off of a free kick feed from out of the midfield, but it was waved off due to offsides in the 70th minute.

NJIT had two more chances in the final 10 minutes, but one of the shots was right at Dodd and the other was a header over the top of the goal.

“It was another game where we played well enough to create scoring opportunities,” said NJIT coach Pedro Lopes. “But we continue to have a difficult time putting the ball in the net. We're knocking on the door, someone opens it a little bit, but they're not letting us in.”

The Highlanders will be back at home on Lubetkin Field when they host Army in a 7 pm game Tuesday night.