NEWARK, NJ—The drought ended in the pouring rain, as NJIT got its first win of the season, 2-1, over visiting Saint Peter's in non-conference women's soccer Friday night on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Stadium.

With a steady, oftentimes heavy rain falling all night, the Highlanders (1-8), who trailed early on a Saint Peter's goal in the 11th minute, tied the score at 13:47 and then came up with the game-winner less than five minutes from the end.

Junior Meryl Hershfield assisted on both NJIT goals, picking up her first assist as the player who took a corner kick that was converted by senior Jennifer Kalczewski's header and then the second assist on her shot that caromed off the left post and rebounded straight to freshman Megan Dellavalle, who knocked home the winner in the 86th minute.

The goal for Saint Peter's (1-7-1), which came on its first on-target shot, was scored by freshman Kamilla Deeb, assisted by junior Jamie Lisanti.

The goals for Deeb of the Peahens and Dellavalle of the Highlanders were the first of their respective college careers. Kalczewski, who has had two serious knee injuries as a college player that had limited her to 28 games played before this season, scored her second career goal.

The final statistics showed NJIT with a 14-4 advantage in overall shots and a 4-2 edge in corner kicks. NJIT goalkeeper Anna Kornmuller, a sophomore who did not appear in a game as a freshman, made one save to earn her first college win. Her Saint Peter's counterpart, junior Caitlin Hoffer, also made one save.

“I didn't think this was our best game,” said first-year NJIT coach Sergio Gonzalez, who earned his first head coaching victory. “But it was a team win where we found a way. This team, the way they train and the way they approach the game, you can tell they care most about the process of becoming a better team. They don't think about their record or the record of the other team. Tonight was a reflection of the hard work we've put in over the last two months.”

NJIT had the run of the play early and was unfortunate not to score first, when a shot from Gechi Ukaegbu hit the post in the sixth minute.

Instead, Saint Peter's was first on the board, scoring at 10:29, when Lisanti crossed the ball from left wing back toward the top of the box, where an unmarked Deeb fired a 15-yarder inside the left post from straight on. The shot was the first of the game for the Peahens, who had spent most of the preceding time defending in their own end.

NJIT pulled even barely three minutes later, at 13:47, when Kalczewski, open at the far post, headed the ball home off of a corner kick from Meryl Hershfield out of the right corner.

 “We've seen JK (Kalczewski) do that all the time in training,” said Gonzalez. “It's testimony to how hard she's worked to overcome her injuries and how hard she works every day.”

The score remained tied and NJIT, which had outshot the visitors in the first half, 5-2, kept up the pressure in the second half, as Saint Peter's played back, sometimes dropping all 10 field players into the defensive third with the score tied at 1-1.

Dellavalle nearly got her first college goal when her shot from close range grazed the crossbar less than two minutes into the second half, but the deadlock held until 85:12, when she knocked home the rebound of a shot by Hershfield off the left post.

Dellavalle, the freshman from California, was in the right place at the right time on the goal. Hershfield, in the right side of the penalty area, shot from 12 yards and the ball caromed off the post straight to the feet of Dellavalle. The freshman, who was on the left side, five yards away, made no mistake, firing the ball into the net before SPC's Hoffer could recover from Hershfield's try.

The Highlanders will host Saint Joseph's in a 1 pm match Sunday on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium.