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NEWARK, NJ—NJIT scored three times in the opening 26 minutes and went on to a 4-1 win over visiting Iona in women's soccer Sunday afternoon on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium, as the Highlanders won for the second time in three starts.
With the victory, the Highlanders have started a season at 2-1 for the first time since 2001, when the program competed at the NCAA Division II level.
The goals for the Highlanders came from four different players, all freshmen, with
Neema Liverpool netting her third goal of the season;
Arianna Gerber and
Noelle Batista each collecting their second goals of the year; and
Brooke McGee capping the scoring with her first collegiate goal.
The score for Iona (1-3) came off the foot of another freshman, Mariana Jaramillo, who notched her first college goal in the 65th minute.
Gerber got things started for the Highlanders with an unassisted goal 4:03 into the contest, as she beat a defender down the right side and fired past Gaels goalkeeper Lauren Ferris, who played all 90 minutes and allowed four goals while posting four saves.
Liverpool made it 2-0 for NJIT in the seventh minute, when she finished a cross into the box from junior
Jaclyn Ward, who is the season leader in assists, with two.
Batista's goal, scored at 25:46, came on a 25-yard shot that put the Highlanders in charge.
The 3-0 first-half lead for NJIT held for nearly 20 minutes into the second half when Jaramillo, who hails from nearby Clifton, NJ, got Iona on the board, maneuvering through the Highlander defense to score from near the penalty spot.
The fourth NJIT goal, in the 75th minute, was a tally by McGee, who controlled a rebound and sent it to the back of the net.
The victorious Highlanders used two goalkeepers in the match, each of whom played a half. Senior
Samantha Bersett started and made three saves in a scoreless 45 minutes. Junior
Karen David, who had a strong season in 2014 (12 games, 1.15 goals against average), came on at halftime for her first action of 2015 and made five stops and allowed the one Iona goal.
The 2-1 start to this season, matching the program's best three-game start in 2001, can be traced in large part to a newfound ability to put the ball in the other opponents' net.
Combining Sunday's four-goal outburst with five goals in their opener against Saint Peter's, the Highlanders have nine goals through three contests (they lost the other game, 2-0, at Monmouth, which posted its third shutout in three games).
This season's nine goals in three games contrasts sharply with the 2014 totals, when the Highlanders managed just 11 goals total in 18 games. On the defensive side last year, NJIT held its opponents to one goal or less in regulation 14 times, but came away with only three wins and two ties in those 14 strong defensive efforts.
This season, NJIT has held two of its opponents to one goal apiece, but the result has been comfortable wins, thanks to nine goals, all scored by freshmen, for the Highlanders.
NJIT, which has played all three of its games to date against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, will play three of the next four games against MAAC teams, beginning with a 7 pm home game vs. Manhattan Thursday night on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium. Manhattan was a 1-0 winner over the Highlanders in 2014.
