VILLANOVA, Pa. –  A pair of first half goals from Balthi Saunders and sharp work in goal from goalkeeper Kent Dickey sparked Villanova (2-2-1 overall) to a 3-0 victory over NJIT (2-3-1) on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex. The clean sheet was Dickey's second of the young 2022 season.
 
"Credit to the guys in front of me," said the redshirt senior. "We're all kind of a unit trying to work together. It's as much as their clean sheet as it is mine."
 
The Wildcats jumped to a 1-0 lead in the 16^th minute as Saunders took a feed from sophomore Vincent Petrara and curled a ball inside the left post at 15:46.
 
Villanova didn't take long to add to its lead.
 
Saunders quickly turned a Highlanders turnover inside its own 18-yard box into another goal, this time beating NJIT goalkeeper Samuel Reisgys at 17:18. Suddenly, the Wildcats were in the enviable position of holding a two-goal edge in the first half.
 
"We were coming off the Yale game, which we thought was not our best effort," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "We didn't play the brand of soccer we wanted to play. To get those first two goals today, really takes some of the pressure off. If you don't get those goals, some of that pressure can creep in."
 
The Wildcats took that lead into halftime and quickly added to it early in the second half. Off a free kick, Anthony Cousins Jr. lofted a ball that center back Viktor Benediktsson re-directed into the net at 47:50 to expand the lead to 3-0.
 
"For Viktor to score is great," said Dickey. "I love him to death. He may be one of the most unique guys I know. To see him score, is very good."
 
NJIT amped up the pressure in the final third over the game's final 40 minutes. Dickey made a series of key saves off quality chances by the Highlanders. Head coach Tom Carlin felt his redshirt senior's effort was vital to Villanova's success on this day.
 
"The goals got us going," stated Carlin, "but I thought in the second half we kind of took our foot off the pedal. It was a little sloppy at times. Dickey had to bail us out. I thought Kent did a great job of being there for us when we needed him to get that clean sheet. We're proud of that.
 
"We did a good job of blocking shots, but we didn't do a good job with our clearances. So we had sequences where we gave them two, three or four shots. Kent came through for us there, but we have to do a better job with the clearances."
 
Villanova will be back at the Higgins Soccer Complex on Saturday to open BIG EAST Conference regular season play against Providence. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports.