NEWARK, N.J. – Villanova jumped out to the lead in the first minute but NJIT responded with four consecutive goals to post a 4-1 victory in a non-conference match played at Lubinsen Stadium at Mal Simon Field Thursday night.
 
The Wildcats (0-2-0) took the opening kickoff on a beautiful late summer evening here with temperatures in the high 70s and turned it into an immediate opportunity. Balthi Saunders fed Vincent Petrera on the left side beyond the 18-yard box. Petrera fired a laser into the top shelf of the net a mere 13 seconds into the match to put the 'Cats up 1-0.
 
"Balthi did a great of pressing right off the get-go," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "He found Vinnie. It was a great goal."
 
But the response from NJIT (1-2-0 overall) came quickly. It applied pressure as soon as play resumed. At 5:06 Giancolo Franco took a feed from Ramchwy Vil and finished with a shot into the upper left corner of the net to level matters at one.
 
The teams battled evenly into the middle portion of the period, with each generating dangerous chances. The Highlanders were the next to capitalize off a corner kick in the 33^rd minute. Franco registered his second goal of the night with a right-boot shot inside the right post.
 
As the clock ticked toward halftime, NJIT extended its margin to 3-1. At 41:51 Andrea Campoli came up with a goal off an assist by Maximus Barboto for the Highlanders.
 
That is where the contest stood after 45 minutes of wide-open soccer.
 
"Credit to NJIT to have that fire to go forward," Carlin said. "It was just a sequence of mistakes we made that led to those goals. I think it was also a matter of us becoming a litte complacent. They took advantage of that. From there, I thought we got settled back in but we just didn't do a good job of defending set pieces and we had some turnovers in the midfield."
 
Shots in the first half were nearly even, with NJIT holding a 7-6 edge in that category.
 
Villanova applied some strong pressure early in the second half as Jorge Garcia fired a quality bid towards net that went just wide in the 52^nd minute. Shortly thereafter, Saunders was taken down by foul, setting up a dangerous free kick chance that the Highlanders blocked out of harms way.
 
But it was NJIT that struck next. This time Vil picked up a loose ball near midfield, dribbled towards goal and sent a rocket shot into the left corner of the net at 56:26. The assist was credited to Alvaro Heredia and the hole grew deeper at 4-1.
 
Marcus Brenes created a strong chance not long after the NJIT that was saved by Samuel Reisgys. The subsequent corner kick ended up on the foot of Saunders, whose shot on frame hit the crossbar and sialed over the goal.
 
"I thought we had some good chances," said Carlin. "But we just made too many mistakes in our own half of the field."
 
Villanova returns to action with its home opener Monday, Labor Day, when it hosts Michigan State at 3 p.m. at the Higgins Soccer Complex.