NEWARK, NJ—Steven Avena finished off a long solo run in the 39th minute with what would be the game's only goal, leading Lehigh to a 1-0 men's soccer victory over NJIT Tuesday night on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium.

Avena, who stole the ball from NJIT near midfield, ran 40 yards straight toward the Highlander goal. Carrying the ball and never breaking stride as he eluded three retreating would-be defenders, he got into the box and sent a hard ground shot into the net past goalkeeper John Ricketti, who had no chance for a save.

Ricketti, the NJIT freshman, made one save, while his Lehigh counterpart, Ciaran Nugent, also a freshman, stopped five shots in posting the shutout.

The Mountain Hawks had a slim edge in total shots, 13-11, but NJIT had more shots on goal, 5-2. In addition there were numerous times when the Highlanders put balls into the goal area, but barely missed connecting for what would have been open shots.

Avena's unassisted goal at 38:48 was the only tally of the night, but both teams had their share of chances.

Lehigh, which had the better of the play early on, nearly scored in the 13th minute, when Austin Decker, on a breakaway, hit the right post.

Perhaps NJIT's best chance came in the 58th minute, when first Pete Walker and then Nils Warfving got shots in rapid succession. Warfving, open close in front, shot over the top on the second try of the sequence.

The Highlanders, pushing all 10 field players into the attacking half in the closing minutes, put on heavy pressure, but could not get the equalizer.

Timothy Hojnacki and Angel Gomez each took shots from outside the box that sailed wide of the target by less than a yard each in the dying minutes.

“We knew coming in that Lehigh would be an organized, hard-working team,” said NJIT coach Pedro Lopes. “We made one big mistake all night and they made us pay for it.

“We put ourselves in position to score, but the thing that was missing was doing what you have to do to get a touch when the ball comes in the box. There were a lot of balls played in where there the right thing to do was to head it and each time we had a moment of indecision that kept us from getting the shot.”

NJIT will play its next three games on the road, beginning with the Atlantic Soccer Conference opener at Longwood in Farmville, VA, on Saturday at 2 pm.