NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT men's soccer team will open its 2023 home campaign on Thursday, August 31 hosting Villanova.
Game Information
Thursday's match is slated for 7pm at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium on the campus of NJIT. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+ with in-game statistics available on NJITHighlanders.com.
Youth Jersey Night
Show us your team pride. Wear your rec/club/school jersey and receive free admission to the game. Kids in 8th grade and below must be accompanied by an adult. Stick around for post game autographs with the team.
All-Time Series
Thursday will mark the second all-time meeting between the two schools. Last season, Villanova topped NJIT, 3-0, on September 14 in Villanova, PA.
Opening Weekend in Chicago
NJIT UIC from the Missouri Valley Conference and Northwestern from the Big Ten Conference to open the Highlanders 2023 campaign. NJIT sophomore Hugo Tavares scored the lone goal for NJIT in the two matches against UIC on August 24. The goal for Tavares was the first of the season and fourth of his young career.
2022 Rewind
The Highlanders will look to make it four consecutive appearances in the America East Conference Tournament after finishing the 2022 season with a 5-8-4 overall record, 1-4-2 in the league.
NJIT News and Notes
–Eighth-year head coach Fernando Barboto returns 17 players from a season ago and recently announced the addition of 14 newcomers to the 2023 roster.
–Graduate student Samuel Reisgys and junior Goncalo Franco were named 2023 captains.
–Sophomore Maximus Barboto, son of Fernando Barboto, was named 2022 America East Rookie of the Year and was rated 76th out of 100 freshmen nation-wide in TopDrawerSoccer.com National Freshmen Top-100 Postseason list.
–Barboto, Andrea Campoli and Hugo Tavares were selected to the 2022 America East All-Rookie Team.
–Goalkeeper Samuel Reisgys has combined for 235 career saves, which tops the record books in the NJIT All-Time Division I era.
–NJIT was voted to finish fifth in the 2023 America East Preseason Poll.
–The Highlander schedule features 18 regular season matches and seven America East matches to finish the season.
Scouting Villanova
Villanova enters Thursday's contest with an 0-1 record after dropping an opening season 2-0 decision at UAlbany. The Great Danes converted a penalty kick in the 33rd minute and netted a goal in the 80th minute to earn the season-opening win.
Rising junior Balthi Saunders is a key returner for the Wildcats, combining for three goals, 10 assists and 16 points. Saunders scored a pair of goals in Villanova's 3-0 victory against NJIT last season.
The Wildcats return graduate student keeper Kent Dickey, who started every match for the Wildcats last season, combining for a 1.39GAA, 73 saves, .745 saves percentage and five shutouts.
The Wildcats were selected to finish T-5th in the Preseason Big East Men's Soccer Preseason Poll. Villanova competes in the East Division of the Big East and finished the 2022 season with a 6-8-3 record.
Next Up
NJIT will travel to Loyola (MD) on Saturday, September 5 at 7pm. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+. In the last meeting in Newark on October 5, 2021, NJIT defeated Loyola, 2-1.
Stay Connected
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