NEWARK, NJ—Quinnipiac used a pair of first-half goals to defeat NJIT, 2-0, in Saturday night men's soccer on the newly re-christened Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium.

The visitors scored a quirky goal early on, withstood sustained heavy NJIT pressure later in the half and then added an insurance goal in the final minutes to take a 2-0 lead into the halftime break. The teams followed with 45 minutes of scoreless second-half soccer.

Saturday's game was preceded by a ceremony in the Campus Center Atrium honoring J. Malcolm (Mal) Simon, who coached NCE/NJIT soccer to 197 wins in 28 seasons, highlighted by 10 postseason appearances. Included in those 10 berths was a share of the 1960 NAIA national championship and a return the 1961 national championship game. Mal also served NJIT as Director of Athletics and Physical Education and he retired from the school as a full professor.

The ceremonies included the announcement that NJIT's home pitch will henceforth be known as Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Stadium.

Quinnipiac, now 1-0-2, including a scoreless tie against 18th-ranked Loyola (MD), had an open shot that went wide off of the opening kickoff, but the Bobcats didn't take long to get on the board, either.

Conor Murphy, just past the center stripe and not far off the far sideline, launched a floating 45-yard shot that NJIT goalkeeper Ryan Sutherland, off his line, apparently misjudged until it was too late and the ball sailed beyond his diving reach and into the goal at 2:42.

Quinnipiac nearly scored again at exactly 10 minutes, when a hard shot by Dominic Adams clanked off the goal post. But NJIT soon mustered its own attack and was unlucky not to pull even in the 17th minute, when Gustav Warfving, open on the doorstep, controlled a pass to his feet, but fired a shot over the crossbar.

Warfving hit a post in the 35th minute and in the flurry that followed NJIT's Alex Brito took a hard shot from 17 yards out and straight on, forcing a fine save by Quinnipiac keeper Frederick Hall.

With NJIT applying steady, heavy pressure for nearly 20 straight minutes, Quinnipiac had some counters and one of them led to a penalty kick, when Durval Pereira, Jr. was dragged down inside the top of the penalty area with 8:51 left in the first half. Pereira took the penalty, but was denied on a diving save to his right by Sutherland.

NJIT kept up the pressure, but it was Quinnipiac that put the ball in the net before the half was out. With just over two minutes remaining, a pass out hit an NJIT defender on the shin and squirted out to Tim Quigley, who was about 25 yards from the goal.

The Bobcat freshman quickly got behind the NJIT defenders who had been moving forward as the Highlander offense tried to start out of the back. Having gotten a step on the defense, Quigley had a clear shot from 15 yards out and fired it along the surface and past a sprawling Sutherland.

The second half had fewer dangerous shots for either team, but NJIT's Sutherland leaped to deflect a hard 30-yarder from Murphy that was ticketed for under the crossbar until the deflection in the 60th minute.

NJIT's last good chance came with 1:35 left in the match, when the Highlanders were awarded a direct free kick from inches outside the penalty area. Warfving struck the free kick hard, but it was blocked by the Quinnipiac wall and caromed 30 yards back out to midfield.

NJIT doubled Quinnipiac in total shots, 20-10, and it was 11-4 for the Highlanders in the second half as they tried to get on the board. The Bobcats had a 5-3 edge in shots on goal and the corner kicks favored NJIT, 5-4.

Hall, the Quinnipiac goalkeeper, needed three saves to notch his second shutout in three games. NJIT's Sutherland had five saves.

“The score line doesn't show how well we played,” said NJIT coach Pedro Lopes. “We had a lot of the play against a good team, but we made a couple of mistakes and they made us pay. We gave up a couple of soft goals, but we kept our heads up.

“We gave up a couple of counters, but that's going to happen when you're down, 1-0, 2-0, and constantly on the attack. I thought it was the best 90 minutes of soccer we've played this year.”

The next game for the Highlanders is in nearby Jersey City with a 4 pm start at Saint Peter's on Wednesday.