NEWARK, NJ--The NJIT men's soccer team will make its second road trip in America East Conference action, visiting Vermont in the first-ever meeting between the two schools on Friday, March 19 at Virtue Field.

Game Information
Game time is slated for 2pm on Friday, March 19.  The match will be streamed live on ESPN+ with in-game statistics available on www.UVMathletics.com.

New Home for the Highlanders
NJIT, which officially joined the league on July 1, 2020, as the 10th full member institution, began its inaugural season in the America East on February 26 when the Highlanders visited UMBC, picking up the programs first-ever win the the America East.

The Highlanders were picked to finish fourth according to a vote of the league's coaches. Vermont was picked second in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.

All-Time Series
NJIT and Vermont will meet for the first time.

NJIT Outlook
The Highlanders will be returning to competition off the programs first-ever ASUN Conference Regular Season and Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. 

NJIT, which finished with a Division I school-record ten wins last season, ranked in the Top 10 of the United Soccer Coaches Atlantic Region poll all season, with its highest ranking coming during the second week of the season (No. 2). NJIT closed the season ranked fifth out of 10 teams.

The Highlanders finished last season 10-5-4 overall, 5-1-0 in the ASUN.

NJIT return seven players who earned All-ASUN honors including, Coach of the Year (Fernando Barboto), Player of the Year (Rene White), Goalkeeper of the Year (Samuel Reisgys) and Rookie of the Year (Alejandro Rabell).

Rene White Selected In the Third Round of the 2021 Major League Soccer SuperDraft
NJIT senior forward Rene White was selected in the third round of the 2021 Major League Soccer SuperDraft by Real Salt Lake.

White became the second Highlander to be drafted to the MLS in the last four years -- Mamadou Guirassy (Portland Timbers; fourth round selection in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft).

The 2019 ASUN Men's Soccer Player of the Year, led NJIT to its first NCAA Tournament appearance after claiming the ASUN Championship title on November 16, 2019. 

White, who was named to the 2019 United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American second-team and All-East Region first-team, scored 17 goals which ranked fourth nationally and tops the Highlanders record books as the career leader in goals (34) and points (74). 

Last Time Out
Visiting Hofstra scored a pair of second half goals, defeating NJIT, 2-1, in a Tuesday non-conference men's soccer matinee at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.

Highlander senior Regsan Watkins scored NJIT's lone goal of the match in the 67th minute of action as the home team held a 24-12 shots advantage (7-5 on goal) over Hofstra.

Scouting the Highlanders
Watkins leads NJIT in scoring with two goals and one assist.  Rene White, Zach Halma, Sergio Pita, and Tomas Jorge each have one goal for the Highlanders. 

Freshman Jose Escandon has recorded a pair of assists through the first four matches. 

Reisgys has a 1.89 goals against average and 22 saves in goal.  His 5.50 saves per game ranks first in the America East.

Scouting Vermont
Vermont (0-0-1, 0-0-1 in the America East) opened the 2021 season at New Hampshire on March 12.  The Catamounts registered a double-overtime scoreless draw with the 11th ranked Wildcats.

Senior goalkeeper Nate Silveira was selected as America East Defensive Player of the Week.

Vermont posted an 11-6-1 record in 2019 and earned a share of the America East regular season title. 

Garrett Lillie is the top returning scorer after putting together an eight-point campaign as a sophomore. He netted two goals and was credited with four assists. Joe Morrison added seven points with two goals and three assists.  

Next Up
NJIT will return to action on Tuesday, March 23 when the Highlanders host Binghamton in Newark inside Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.  Kickoff is slated for 3:30pm.

Follow Us
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