DELAND, FL--Stetson's William Suaut scored the lone goal of the match in the 77th minute, leading the Hatters to a 1-0 victory over visiting NJIT in the ASUN Conference men's soccer opener at the Athletic Training Center Saturday evening.

Stetson picks up its second straight win of the season, moving to 5-3-0, 1-0-0 in the ASUN while the Highlanders move to 2-2-3 overall, 0-1-0 in the ASUN.

"We had a strong first half, especially towards the end of it where we forced a point blank save and drew the penalty kick," head coach Fernando Barboto commented.  "Missing the penalty kick was very deflating.  We have to bounce back mentally, emotionally and physically for the next week."

The home team broke a scoreless match in the 77th minute after a serve from the left side into the box by Gabriel Diniz, finding Suaut, to put the Hatters ahead, 1-0, finishing on a header.

Stetson finished with a 20-5 advantage on overall shots and edged the Highlanders in corner kicks, 5-4.

Three different Highlanders registered a shot in the match -- Rene White, Gerald Cubero and Juan Zapata.

NJIT's first opportunity to score Friday night came in the 14th minute on a shot by freshman Gerald Cubero and two minute later, ASUN Conference goals leader Rene White blasted a shot, which sailed high.

In the 40th minute, Stetson was called for a foul inside the box, resulting in an NJIT penalty kick.  NJIT junior transfer Regsan Watkins stepped up to the line, striking to the lower right post but Stetson's goalkeeper denied the Highlanders with a diving stop.

With 8.1 seconds left in the first period, a free kick was served inside the box by Stetson to Ian McCauley whose shot was stopped on a kick save by NJIT's Samuel Reisgys.  After a scramble in front of the box, NJIT notched a pair of team saves as the first period buzzer sounded. 

Stetson held an 11-4 advantage in overall shots in the first period, paced by McCauley.  Watkins recorded two shots for the Highlanders.

Senior co-captain Juan Zapata fired off the first shot of the second half, in the 49th minute, but Stetson's Lillo-Portero made the stop.

Freshman goalkeeper Samuel Reisgys stopped four Hatter shots.  Lillo-Portero finished with four saves.

NJIT will play two consecutive matches at home, first hosting Seton Hall on September 24 at 7pm and ASUN Conference opponent, Liberty on September 28 at 1:30pm.