Women's Soccer Defeats Defending America East Champion Stony Brook

"We need to have a lot of heart this season in order to beat these really talented opponents that we know are very hard to face from last season."

Those were fifth year Yasmeen Malik's words back in late August as the NJIT women's soccer team was in the midst of a trying four-game season-opening schedule.

On Thursday night, Malik, redshirt junior Molly Saylor and the Highlanders played with tremendous heart and were rewarded with a signature victory as NJIT knocked off the two-time defending America East champion Stony Brook Seawolves, 1-0, at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.

NJIT (4-8, 2-1 AE), who was picked to finish near the bottom of the America East in 2021 and lost 5-0 to Stony Brook (5-5-1, 2-1 AE) last season, could have easily allowed doubt to dictate their effort and played not to lose rather than to win.

Instead, the Highlanders played with heart.

NJIT played Stony Brook to a scoreless tie after 45 minutes with one of its strongest defensive performances to date. The Highlanders contained the Seawolves all over the field and used consistent work rate to keep Stony Brook in front of them. While the Seawolves outshot the Highlanders 4-1 in the first half, none of Stony Brook's chances came without a strong challenge. Of its four shots, two were easily saved by Saylor and the other two sailed out wide.

By contrast, NJIT was able to force a pair of corners while blanking Stony Brook in that category. Sophomore Sydney Watson produced NJIT's lone shot (37') out of those back-to-back corners.

The Highlanders came out in the second half and continued their inspired play. Junior Lauren Chamberlain forced Stony Brook to make a save less than ten seconds into the half and got loose for another shot just over three minutes later.

Six minutes after that, Malik converted on the shot that would matter the most.

After beating a Stony Brook defender to a goal kick and drawing a foul, senior Angela Harris took a free kick from near the left corner flag and placed it perfectly to Malik. The Langhorne, Penn. native - who played in 62 career games in between goals - jumped higher than anyone else in the goalie box and headed the ball just outside the outstretched arms of Seawolves keeper Emerson Richmond Burke.

The Seawolves showed their championship mettle after NJIT's score, logging nine of its ten second half shots after falling behind. Stony Brook's closest chance of tying the game came in the 79th minute. Seawolves leading scorer Alyssa Francese - who scored four goals in her last four games and three in her last outing - took a left-footed shot from 20 yards out that would have went in upper left if not for a diving, left-handed punch save from Saylor.

Saylor added the last of her six saves about 30 seconds later (80') and the NJIT defense held off Stony Brook's final efforts to seal the victory.