NEWARK, NJ—Visiting Manhattan scored three times in the opening 24:03 en route to a 4-0 women's soccer victory over NJIT Thursday night on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
 
Manhattan (3-1) had allowed a combined two goals in its three previous early season games and the Jaspers continued their strong defensive showing with a clean sheet against NJIT (2-2).
 
Before Thursday night, Manhattan had managed two goals on the offensive end in the three games coming in. However, the Jaspers doubled that season total with two goals in the first 14:10 and then added a third first-half goal early in the 25th minute to carry a 3-0 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Jaspers quickly extended their advantage to 4-0 on an unassisted goal scored from outside the box by Tara Teal just 1:11 into the second half.
 
The quartet of Manhattan goals were scored by four different players, but senior Emily Ude had a role in each of the first two.
 
The senior assisted on the opening goal, sending a pass to junior Lizzy Carlson, who finished her second goal of the season, scoring from outside the 18 in the 11th minute.
 
Ude made it 2-0 less than four minutes later, knocking the ball past NJIT goalkeeper Samantha Bersett, unassisted.
 
Junior Erica Modena scored her second goal of 2015 in the 24th minute. Modena, a second-team All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference honoree as a freshman in 2013, is making a comeback after an injury limited her to three games played at the start the 2014 season.
 
Manhattan, which showed quickness on both ends of the field, enjoyed a 17-8 advantage in total shots, including 9-4 in shots on target.
 
Each team used two goalkeepers. The Manhattan starter, Kristen Skonieczny, played 41:03 and made three saves, while freshman Kelly DiGregorio came on and made one save in 48:57 to finish off the shutout.
 
NJIT's starting keeper, Bersett, played 68:18 and stopped three shots. Junior Karen David made one save and kept the visitors off the board in 21:42. The Highlanders defense also got a "team" save for blocking a shot at the goal line in the second half.

The Highlanders, who have played all four of their official contests against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, defeating Saint Peter's and Iona and losing to Monmouth and Manhattan, will play their fifth game against another MAAC team this weekend.
 
NJIT will travel to Buffalo, NY, for a 1 pm contest on Sunday at Canisius, which is 1-2-2 with a game at Sacred Heart on Friday before hosting the Highlanders two days later.
 
Canisius leads the all-time series, 2-1, but the NJIT win came on August 22 last year, when the Highlanders prevailed, 1-0.