NEWARK, NJ—The NJIT men's soccer team will hit the road for the first time this season as the Highlanders travel to Lawrenceville, NJ, to take on Rider Friday night at Ben Cohen Field. Kickoff is slated for 7pm.
Last Time Out
Redshirt sophomore
Rene White and freshman
Victor Gomez scored a goal each for NJIT while junior
Andrew Nino collected a pair of assists in the Highlanders 2-1 victory over visiting Navy Monday.
NJIT scored two goals in a five-minute span to take a 2-0 lead over the Midshipmen after 16 minutes of action.
Highlander keeper
Victor Pujades notched his second straight win, making three saves.
Scouting the Highlanders
NJIT looks to continue its winning ways, after getting off to their third straight 2-0 start this past week with wins over Sacred Heart and Navy.
White paces the Highlanders with a pair of goals followed by
Victor Gomez with one goal.
Andrew Nino currently leads the ASUN with three assists. The junior midfielder has assisted on every NJIT goal in 2018.
Pujades has posted a 0.50 goals-against average and an .800 saves percentage.
ASUN Conference Coaches Poll
The Highlanders were picked to finish fourth after the league announced its 2018 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Pablo Jimenez, from Barcelona, Spain, earned a spot on the Preseason ASUN All-Conference team was voted ASUN Preseason Fan-Vote Player of the Year with 342 votes.
All-Time Series
NJIT's matchup with Rider marks the eighth all-meeting between the two. The Broncos hold a 4-1-2 advantage in the series.
Scouting the Broncs
Rider (0-0-1) opened the season on August 24 with a 1-1 tie against Fairleigh Dickinson. Elliott Otmani scored on a PK in the 11th minute. The goal was the 24th in Otmani's career.
The Broncs return nine starters from a team that advanced to the MAAC Championship Game for the third-straight season in 2017. Included in the returning cast are a pair of players who accounted for 17 of the Broncs 30 goals a year ago in Elliott Otmani (9 goals, 2 assists) and Pablo DeCastro (8 goals, 3 assists).
Otmani was named to the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, representative of collegiate soccer's top individual honor. In addition to Otmani, an Academic All-America First Team honoree, backs Arthur Herpreck and Emmanuel Kouma return after joining Otmani on the All-Region Team.
MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rider was selected to finish second in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll and three Broncs – Otmani, Coco and Kouma were selected to the Preseason All-MAAC Team.
