NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT men's soccer team will welcome New Hampshire on Homecoming Weekend, Saturday, October 8 at 3pm on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
Game Information
The match will be played at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium with kickoff slated for 3pm on America East TV. In-game statistics will be available for free on NJITHighlanders.com.
Road Warriors
NJIT opened the 2022 season with seven consecutive road matches, the most since the 2017 season when the Highlanders started off the season with a five-match road swing. NJIT played its first home game of the season on September 20 vs. Sacred Heart, shutting out the Pioneers, 2-0.
All-Time Series
New Hampshire leads the all-time series, 2-0. The two teams met pre-Division I era and last season on October 1, 2021 in Durham, NH. The Wildcats, who were ranked No. 6 in the nation at the time, scored three second-half goals.
America East Rookie of the Week | Andrea Campoli
Campoli, from Rome, Italy, registered his first career Rookie of the Week honor, playing all 90 minutes on defense in a scoreless draw against Binghamton on Saturday, October 1 and helped limit the Bearcats to just four shots on goal.
Last Time Out
The NJIT men's soccer team secured another draw, finishing with a 0-0 tie against visiting Binghamton in America East men's soccer action Saturday evening at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
NJIT picks up its second straight tie and fourth of the season, moving to 3-3-4 overall, 0-0-2 in the America East. The four draws are the most since the 2019 season when the Highlanders finished with a 10-5-4 overall record.
NJIT Notes
NJIT's Fernando Barboto enters his seventh season at the helm of the Highlanders.
In 2019, Barboto guided the NJIT men's soccer program in capturing the ASUN Tournament and Regular Season title. The 2019 ASUN Conference Coach of the Year along with his coaching staff, who was named United Soccer Coaches Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year, led the Highlanders to the first NCAA appearance at the Division I level (first round; at Providence on November 21, 2019).
Under Barboto, the Highlanders have made postseason appearances in five-out-of-six seasons (2021, 2020 in AE; 2019, 2018, 2017 in the ASUN Tournament).
The 32-man roster consists of 18 returners from the America East semifinals team and 13 newcomers.
Sophomore Goncalo Franco is the lone Highlander returning for the 2022 season who earned 2021 America East All-Conference accolades (All-Rookie Team).
Scouting the Highlanders
NJIT has collected wins against James Madison, La Salle and Sacred Heart while tying Drexel, Rider, UMass Lowell and Binghamton and dropped decisions at Big East foes UConn and Villanova and Iona from the MAAC.
Goncalo Franco leads the Highlanders attack with three goals followed by Asembo Augo and Jose Del Valle with two goals apiece while freshman Maximus Barboto, who has earned America East Conference Rookie of the Week twice this season thus far, is the son of head coach Fernando Barboto. He ranks second in the America East with four assists.
Senior co-captain Samuel Reisgys has played in every match in goal for the Highlanders this season, posting a 1.37 goals-against average and a .711 saves percentage. His 213 career saves tops the record books in the NJIT All-Time Division I era. He tops the America East in shutouts with four.
2022 NJIT Captains
NJIT head men's soccer coach Fernando Barboto announced senior goalkeeper Reisgys and Franco, NJIT's midfielder, as team captains to lead the Highlanders in the 2022 season.
Reisgys was named to the 2021 America East All-Academic team, starting every match (18) but one while Franco was selected to the America East All-Rookie team, netting a pair of goals in his first season at NJIT.
America East Conference
This will also be NJIT's third season in the America East after the school joined the league in July 2020. However, it will be the Highlanders' first AE campaign after a proper offseason (2020 was played in Spring 2021 due to COVID and 2021 was played the following fall). The Highlanders were selected to finish fifth in the 2022 Preseason Coaches Poll.
Scouting New Hampshire
New Hampshire enters Saturday's match with a 6-3-0 overall record and 2-0-0 in the America East, having won four straight games, outscoring the opposition, 11-2 during this stretch.
The two Wildcats victories in America East action have come against Bryant (4-1) and most recently, UMBC, 2-0, on October 1. The four goals scored against Bryant were the second most goals the Wildcats have scored this season (4-1 win over Harvard; Sept. 27).
Last season, the Wildcats went 17-2-2 (7-0-1 America East) during a historic 2021 season that featured program records for wins (17) and winning percentage (.857). UNH advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history after defeating North Carolina, 4-1, in the second round at Wildcat Stadium. UNH led the nation with a .466 team goals against average, while the Wildcats' .857 winning percentage was fifth in the country and their 47 goals scored were ranked 10th.
Next Up
NJIT will hit the road and visit Vermont on Saturday, October 15 at 7pm in Burlington, VT. The match will be streamed live on America East TV.
