NEWARK, NJ—NJIT men's soccer will kick off the 2018 ASUN Conference campaign on Saturday at 3pm, hosting FGCU on the campus of Kean University East Campus Facility.
All-Time Series
NJIT will look for its first all-time win against FGCU. The Eagles won the last two consecutive years.
Construction Update on NJIT Campus
With construction underway on-campus for the new Soccer Stadium, the Highlanders home field will be in Hillside, NJ, on the campus of Kean University – East Campus Facility until construction of the soccer stadium is completed. Click
HERE for directions.
Highlander Sports Network
The match can be seen live on the Highlander Sports Network.
A simple way to find Highlanders Sports Network is on NJIT's official athletics website, http://www.njithighlanders.com. Near the middle of the home page, click Upcoming Events for a list of scheduled NJIT contests. After finding the event, click the camera icon to the left next to the live stats icon in the red box. That brings you to the Highlander Sports Network portal where you can access the desired program.
Last Time Out
George Washington's sophomore Brady O'Connor scored the game-winner in the 80th minute and the Colonials held on for a 1-0 victory over NJIT Saturday afternoon on the camps of Rutgers-Newark Alumni Soccer Field.
An evenly played match between George Washington and NJIT, the Highlanders held a 13-9 advantage in overall shots while the Colonials edged the home team in corner kicks, 8-6. Sophomore
Pablo Jimenez paced the Highlanders with six shots (three on goal) while
Juan Zapata and
Rene White tallied two shots each.
Scouting the Highlanders
The Highlanders enter ASUN Conference action with a 5-2 overall mark, most recently dropping a 1-0 decision to the Colonials from George Washington.
Redshirt sophomore
Rene White's six goals on the season, currently ranks in the top 10 in the nation (as of September 19) and ranks second in the ASUN Conference, matching his freshman output (six goals) from 2016 and points with 16. He has scored six of NJIT's nine goals this season while adding one assist, totaling 13 points on the season.
Andrew Nino's four assists pace the team and the ASUN Conference while goalkeeper
Victor Pujades has played every minute in goal, posting a 0.85 goals against average, which ranks first in the league and an .786 save percentage, which ranks second. Pujades has combined for three shutouts on the season, an ASUN best.
ASUN Conference Preseason Poll
Sophomore midfielder
Pablo Jimenez has been named to the 2018 Preseason ASUN All-Conference men's soccer team and the Highlanders as a team, were picked to finish fourth after the league announced its 2018 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Coming off another successful season in the Division I era, NJIT registered eight wins in 2017, marking the second-highest win total, since competing as an NCAA Division I program, under the leadership of
Fernando Barboto in his second season at the helm.
The Highlanders combined for 25 points and one first-place vote.
In addition to earning a spot on the All-Conference team, Jimenez, from Barcelona, Spain, was voted ASUN Preseason Fan-Vote Player of the Year with 342 votes.
FGCU was selected to finish second with 41 points and one first-place vote.
Scouting the Eagles
FGCU enters ASUN Conference weekend with a 3-2-1 record, most recently a 1-1 double overtime tie against Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday night.
The Eagles will have both the reigning ASUN Player of the Week in Shak Adams and also the Defensive Player of the Week in Raheem Somersall. Adams became just the fifth member in program history to net a hat-trick this past weekend while Somersall was responsible for disrupting 21 plays on the Eagle's backline.
Adams now has produced a team-best eight 10, to go along with his four goals and two assists. Freshman O'Vonte Mullings is right there with him bagging three goals thus far with two assists.
Through five matches, the Eagles boast six different scorers on their roster as junior Kareem Riley leads the squad with three assists.
Gustavo Vasconcelos – four starts this season in net – currently leads the ASUN in save percentage at .828 and has conceded just five goals, giving him a 1.18 goals against average (GAA).
Next Up
NJIT will return to action and host non-conference opponent LIU Brooklyn on Tuesday at 3:30 on Kean University East Campus Facility.
