Game 6	vs Lafayette (1-4)
Date | Time	Sunday, September 4 | 12:00 pm
Location | Arena	Newark, NJ | Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium
All-Time Series	Lafayette leads 7-0-2
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Live Video	AmericaEast.TV

NEWARK, N.J. — Fresh off a three-game road trip, the NJIT women's soccer team will begin a quick two-game home slate on Sunday afternoon when the Highlanders play host to the Lafayette Leopards. 

LAST TIME OUT 
The Highlanders saw their unbeaten streaks - four games to start 2022 and nine dating back to the end of 2021 - come to an end on Wednesday evening at the hands of the Wagner Seahawks. Despite seeing junior Sydney Watson score her first career goal to give NJIT a 1-0 lead in the second half, Wagner would strike twice in the final ten minutes of the game to shock NJIT and snap the Highlanders' four-game winning streak in the all-time series.

NEWS AND NOTES TO KNOW
7, 5, 5, 3: The Highlanders have scored seven goals so far this year - five have come from headers, five have been assisted, and three have been headers assisted by Aleesha Deshmukh, including Watson's goal against Wagner.

17: Saylor registered her 17th career shutout against Drexel, extending her NJIT school record and placing her within the NCAA Top 30 for career shutouts (was tied for 27th in Division I prior to the Wagner game).

9: The number of America East weekly awards NJIT Women's Soccer has won all-time after Saylor was named Defensive Player of the Week on August 29. She joined sophomore Ciara Adams (August 29, Offensive POTW) as award winners for 2022.

Sunday's draw with Drexel kept the program's overall unbeaten streak alive at nine games, dating back to last season's five-match run (3-0-2 to close the year). The current stretch without a loss is the longest in program history.

605:32: The final length of NJIT's school record shutout streak that started with the final five games of 2021 and ended with St. John's first goal on August 21.

5: After Saylor's 14 saves against Drexel, she sits in the NJIT top-five for single game saves, behind Samantha Bersett (18 against Lipscomb on Oct. 24, 2015; 15 against Utah Valley on Oct. 5, 2012), Bruna Lotufo (15 vs IPFW on Aug. 31, 2006) and Ketsia Mesidor (15 vs Bridgeport on Sept. 17, 1997).

2: NJIT has scored multiple goals in two games this season after only doing so one time in 19 contests in 2021.

6: In that same vein, the Highlanders have had six different goal scorers (Adams, Vito, Watson, Caminos, Chamberlain, Ramos) in only five games, which is close to 2021's total of ten different goal scorers.

44: The difference between the number of career games it took for Caminos (46) and Ramos (2) to net their first career goals against St. John's.

4: In the season opener, NJIT held LIU's offensive attack in check, only allowing the Sharks to register four total shots. The last time the Highlander defense conceded four shots or fewer in a victory was against Wagner on Sept. 2, 2021 (1-0 win, four shots allowed).

7: Head coach Ally Nick is in her seventh season as head coach of the Highlanders. Nick compiled a 42-46-11 (17-24-4 conference) record in six seasons prior to 2022, including three conference tournament appearances in six years (2018-19 ASUN, 2021 AE)

30: NJIT is running with a 30-woman roster consisting of: 21 returners from last season's America East quarterfinal team, eight freshmen and transfer Lily Bray.

3: Three returners from 2021 were honored by the America East last season: Redshirt senior Molly Saylor (Second Team All-AE, AE All-Academic), Fifth Year Siani Magruder (Second Team All-AE, AE All-Championship Team), and sophomore Caroline Caputo (AE All-Rookie Team)

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). 

7: This year's roster hails from seven different places (five states, two countries): New Jersey (16 players), Pennsylvania (5), Virginia (4), New York (2), North Carolina, New Zealand, and Portugal.

2: A pair of successful local coaches joined Coach Nick's staff for the 2022 campaign. Ariana Ruela (former head coach at Rutgers-Newark) and Graeham Gotrell (former Montclair State women's and men's soccer assistant coach) were hired this summer after the departures of longtime assistants Mary Hearin (Delaware) and Chris Duggan (Princeton)

60: Sixty percent of NJIT's offense from 2021 is back on the pitch this season. Bailey Chant is the Highlanders' leading returning scorer (3 G, 2 A) while six other players registered a goal last season (Angela Harris, Ciara Adams, Aleesha Deshmukh, Briana Ramirez, Emma Bitar, Taylor Pape).

5: After earning the No. 3 seed and hosting the first-ever America East Tournament home game in NJIT history, the Highlanders were voted to finish tied for this year's Preseason Poll by the league's head coaches.

2022 STATS LEADERS
Goals: Ciara Adams - 2
Assists: Aleesha Deshmukh - 2
Points: Adams - 4
Shots: Adams / Kelsey Ramos - 6
Saves: Molly Saylor - 29
GAA: Saylor - 0.80

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
NJIT and Lafayette will meet for the tenth time in their history on Sunday, with the Highlanders looking for their first win in the series (0-7-2 all-time). The two teams last met in 2021, with Lafayette holding off NJIT, 1-0 after scoring in the sixth minute of the contest. 

Lafayette enters Sunday having lost its last game at Iona, 2-1, on September 1. The Leopards are led by Sara Oswald (1 G, 1 A) and Natalie Neumann (225:00; 15 saves, .652 save percentage).

NEXT UP
NJIT will play again at home this week on Thursday, September 8 at 5:30 p.m. against former America East member Hartford.