NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT men's soccer team begins their 2023 America East Conference league campaign on Saturday evening when the Highlanders welcome UMass Lowell.

Game Information 
Kickoff is slated for 7pm on Saturday, September 23 at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.  The match will be streamed live on America East TV with in-game statistics available on NJITHighlanders.com. 

Back-to-Back Wins for the First Time This Season
NJIT picked up its first back-to-back wins last week with victories over La Salle (3-2) and Sacred Heart (4-0).  The Highlanders have scored four goals twice this season (vs. Villanova; W, 4-1) and Sacred Heart.

Maximus Barboto - Tied for First in Nation for Total Assists
Sophomore Maximus Barboto is tied for first in the nation and leads the America East in total assists (8) while ranking tied for second in the nation in assists per goal (1.00).  This season, Barboto has tallied at least one assist in five out of eight matches and registered a pair of assists in three matches.

America East Offensive Player of the Week
Sophomore Maximus Barboto has been selected America East Offensive Player of the Week the league office announced on Tuesday.

In a 2-0 week for the Highlanders, Barboto tallied four assists in a pair of Highlander wins.

Barboto, the nation's assists leader with eight assists, registered two assists against La Salle (3-2; Sept. 12) and Sacred Heart (4-0; Sept. 16).  Barboto ranks second in the nation in assists per game (1.14).

The 2022 America East Rookie of the Year tops the America East in total assists and ranks fifth in points (eight).

This season, Barboto has tallied at least one assist in five out of seven matches and registered a pair of assists in three matches.

The eight assists in a single season ties the NJIT Division I record and his 12 career assists ranks fifth all-time in the NJIT Division I era.

Samuel Reisgys Surpasses 250 Career Saves
Reisgys, the Highlanders graduate student from Rimbach, Germany surpassed 250 career saves in a 1-1 draw against Rider on September 8, 2023.  Reisgys is NJIT's all-time career leader in saves with 257.

Last Time Out
The NJIT men's soccer team came up short, 2-1, against visiting Iona Tuesday evening in non-conference men's soccer action at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.

Iona scored a pair of goals in the first half and held onto the road win, improving to 3-2 on the season, while NJIT suffers its first loss at home, moving to 3-3-2 overall.

NJIT's lone goal was scored in the 78th minute by freshman Cristian LoGrasso.

All-Time Series
NJIT leads the all-time series, 2-1-1.  NJIT picked up their wins on September 18, 2021 (W, 2-1) and October 9, 2013 (W, 2-0).

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 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.
–Tavares paces NJIT with four goals and one assist.  His four goals ranks third in the America East.
–Newcomer Alvaro Heredia, a transfer from Xavier, scored goals in back-to-back games for the Highlanders (Rider & La Salle)
–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 UMass Lowell
–UMass Lowell enters Saturday's match with a 2-2-2 overall record
–The River Hawks are coming off a 5-0 win at CCSU on September 16
–UMass Lowell is led by Guillermo Frances Poquet with four goals and eight points followed by Daniele Mastroianni with three goals
–Calvin Scholten and Javier Torres each tallied a pair of assists for the RiverHawks.

Next Up
NJIT will hit the road and travel to Drexel for a 5pm kickoff on September 26.

Stay Connected 
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