What: Men's soccer; NJIT vs. #22 Navy
When: Saturday, September 20, 5 pm
Where: on campus, Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium
Tickets: At the gate; FREE for NJIT students with valid ID;
NJIT staff and faculty, accompanied children, $3; others, $5
 
Live coverage on www.NJITHighlanders.com
 
Live stats (free)
Live video (on-demand fee; $6.95 single game; follow link for other rates)
 
NEWARK, NJ—NJIT men's soccer will put its unbeaten home record to the test on Saturday at 5 pm when the Highlanders host Navy, ranked 22nd in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division I poll.
 
The Highlanders, 3-2-1 overall, have two wins and a tie in their three home contests this season Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
 
Going back to the start of the 2013 season, NJIT is 6-1-2 in nine home contests. Since Didier Orellana, the team's head coach, joined the staff as an assistant in 2011, NJIT's home record is 15-6-4 in 25 contests on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
 
Even with the home success, defeating Navy (3-2-1) will be a tall order. Since joining the Division I ranks in 2004, NJIT has played a number of Top 25 teams over the years, including Maryland in 2005, a season that would end with Maryland as National Champion.
 
Until now, all of NJIT's soccer games against Top 25 teams have been played on the road. That will change Saturday evening.
 
Navy recon: The Midshipmen are the defending Patriot League champions and they advanced a round into the 2013 NCAA Division I College Cup, winning round one at VCU and then falling at Wake Forest, 2-1. Their 2013 final record was 16-4-2, which included a 3-1 win over the Highlanders in Annapolis on October 22.
 
Against that background, Navy was ranked in the 2014 national preseason Top 25. An 0-1-1 start to the schedule knocked the Midshipmen from the rankings, but they returned at #22 after a 3-game winning streak that included a 2-1 win on September 8 against Maryland, ranked #10.
 
Navy, which has scored at least one goal in its last 23 games, is 6th in Division I in total points (goals x two, plus assists).
 
A balanced offense featuring 14 players with at least one point, is headed by Jamie Dubyoski's 8 points (3 goals, 2 assists). Dubyoski had a goal and an assist in last year's win over the Highlanders, and finished 2013 as the team leader in goals (10) and points (23). Then a sophomore, he was 2013 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. Sophomore Daniel Camuti is second on Navy in points this year with six on three goals. The Navy assists leader is junior Derek Vogel (3 assists, 1 goal, 5 points).
 
Navy's first-choice goalkeeper the last two games has been freshman Mac Burke (1.11 GAAvg).
 
NJIT file: Opened 2014 with a 1-2 mark in games played away is 2-0-1 in its three games since, all at home. The Highlanders had a hard-fought 1-0 win over Marist, tied Fordham in another tight one (1-1) and then matched their season goals high in a 3-1 win over LIU Brooklyn on September 17 (the only LIU goal came on a penalty kick).
 
The Highlanders have tended to play lower scoring games than Navy has, but NJIT, too, has shown balance. Three men—seniors Marko Drljic and Cristian Marcel, and junior Jimmy Myers—all have two goals each.
 
Drljic, the overall scoring leader (6 points, 2 goals, 2 assists) has 33 career points (10 goals, 13 assists), one behind Franco Gamero (34 points) on NJIT's career Division I (since 2004) list.
Joining Drljic as a talented senior on the Highlanders is Marcel, who was the first Offensive Player of the Week in the Sun Belt Conference when he was honored on September 2.
 
Freshman Shaun Keegan took the same honor on September 9 and he is one of several newcomers making an impact in their first season as Highlanders.
 
Freshmen Danny Cordeiro and Phillip Costa have each started every game and they share the team assists lead with the senior Drljic, all with two assists apiece.
 
NJIT's first-choice goalkeeper, Christian Foust is also a newcomer, but he is a sophomore, having spent his freshman season at James Madison in 2013. Active and aggressive, he has played all but 4:42 of this season's six games, posting a 1.46 goals against average.

While the Navy game is the first against a National Top 25 team at home on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium, the Highlanders have played their share of ranked teams away from home, including the earlier noted 2005 at Maryland in a year the Terrapins won the NCAA Division I championship.

Last season, NJIT played two ranked teams away, at #19 St. John's (lost 2-1) and at #22 Fairleigh Dickinson (lost 1-0). There have been others, but the only win for NJIT over a ranked team since the Highlanders began Division I competition in 2004, was a 2-0 win on September 7, 2007 at San Diego State. That one comes with a small asterisk, since San Diego State was not ranked in the NSCAA poll (generally seen as the most authoritative), but was #22 in the respected Top Drawer Soccer media poll and #23 in the most widely cited media poll, Soccer America.
 
NJIT coach Didier Orellana previews the Navy game: