| Game 1 |
vs LIU (0-0-0) |
| Date | Time |
Thursday, August 18 | 6:00 pm |
| Location | Arena |
Newark, NJ | Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium |
| All-Time Series |
LIU leads 7-0-2 |
| Live Stats |
In-game statistics (free) |
| Live Video |
AmericaEast.TV |
NEWARK, N.J. — The NJIT women's soccer team will officially kick off their 2022 campaign - and the 2022-23 NJIT Athletics season - on Thursday, August 18 at 6 p.m. when the Highlanders welcome the LIU Sharks to Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
THE STARTING XI - NEWS AND NOTES TO KNOW
7: Head coach Ally Nick will be entering her seventh season as head coach of the Highlanders. Nick has compiled a 42-46-11 (17-24-4 conference) record in six seasons, including three conference tournament appearances in six years (2018-19 ASUN, 2021 AE)
30: NJIT will go into 2022 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 have 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 will be 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).
251: One of four NJIT goalkeepers to record over 250 saves in the Division I era (since 2006), Saylor (251) will certainly add to that total during the season and will try to extend her school record for career shutouts (14 and counting).
6: NJIT nearly tied its Division I single-game goals record in its second win of the season last year, shutting out Saint Peter's 6-0 at home on September 4, 2021. Chant led the Highlanders with a brace while Ramirez scored an Olympico goal from a corner kick and NJIT got other goals from Deshmukh and recent graduates
Christine Conaghy and
Tara Walenczyk.
495:19: NJIT closed the 2021 campaign on a shutout streak that spanned the last five matches and 495-plus minutes of game action (NJIT went 3-0-2 in its last five games). The last time the Highlanders gave up a goal in the run of play was Binghamton's game-winner on October 10, 2021
9: That end-of-season shutout run was part of a nine shutout campaign for Highlanders, tying the NJIT single-season mark from 2018 and pacing the America East.
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.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
LIU will also be opening their 2022 campaign on Thursday. Across their many iterations in Division I (LIU, LIU Brooklyn) and Division II (CW Post/LIU Post), LIU holds a 7-0-2 edge over NJIT all-time. The Highlanders and Sharks played to a 1-1 draw in their last meeting - the first for LIU as the Sharks - on September 13, 2019.
LIU went 2-11-2 (2-7-1 NEC) in 2021.
NEXT UP
NJIT will close out the weekend on Sunday, August 21 with another home match against St. John's. Kickoff is scheduled for Noon.
