Men's Lacrosse Rallies For 11-10 OT Win Over UMass Lowell

Published: Saturday, April 29, 2023
NJIT Lacrosse

What a way to close out a season.

In only its third-ever overtime contest in program history, the NJT men's lacrosse team rallied from a five-goal first half deficit to defeat the UMass Lowell River Hawks, 11-10, Saturday afternoon in the season finale for both teams. 

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Senior Owen Corry and freshman Ryan Sininsky led the charge for the Highlanders (3-10, 1-6 AE) as the duo each logged a hat trick to tie for the game high in goals. Corry also added an assist to lead all players with four points on the day while Sininsky won the game on his third goal in overtime. 
  • Gavyn Willson put away a pair of goals as the only other Highlander with multiple scores, while Isaac Vanzomeren, Garrett Muscatella and Darren Romaine added the additional offense. Logan Hone contributed the second of NJIT's two assists on the day.
  • The Highlanders collectively gathered 30 ground balls, with 15 players grabbing at least one and no one corralling more than Vanzomeren and Jack Mahony's three each.
  • Vanzomeren (9-13) and Billy Kroeger (7-11) combined to go 16-24 at the faceoff X, compared to UMass Lowell's 8-24, giving the Highlanders their biggest FO win advantage of the season (+8)
  • NJIT also had nine caused turnovers, led by Teddy Grimley's career-high three and two from Josh Schreibeis.
  • Liam Brown made 13 saves in an extended 64 minutes of game time and finished eight saves shy of 200 for the season with 192.


1ST QUARTER

  • After UMass Lowell scored the first goal of the game (13:21), Sininsky knotted the match at 1-1 with a solo strike less than a minute later (12:31).
  • The River Hawks retook the lead at the 11:05 mark and eventually ended the quarter with a 4-1 lead after adding two more goals.


2ND QUARTER

  • The second began much like the first, with UMass Lowell scoring first to go up 5-1 (13:01) and Romaine netting a goal to bring NJIT back within three, 5-2 (7:34).
  • Two River Hawk goals gave the hosts their largest lead of the contest, 7-2, with 5:15 to go before intermission.
  • The Highlanders closed the half on a second goal from Sininsky (1:49) to send both teams to the locker room with the score 7-3.


3RD QUARTER

  • NJIT started to turn the tide in the third period, winning the frame 5-3 and cutting the River Hawks' lead to only two (10-8) before the start of the fourth.
  • The Highlanders scored the first two goals of the quarter - a man-up score by Willson from Corry (14:36) and then Corry's first strike (10:20) - to make the score 7-5.
  • UML stopped NJIT's 3-0 run with its eight goal with 9:23 to go but NJIT would answer with two more - Wilson from Hone (8:10) and Muscatella unassisted (7:37) - to make it a one-goal game (8-7) for the first time since early in the first quarter.
  • With under two minutes to go, both teams went on an offensive tear. Over the course of about 30 seconds, three goals were scored: one by UML (1:39), a quick strike from faceoff by Vanzomeren (1:32) and the last of the quarter by the River Hawks (1:11).


4TH QUARTER

  • Corry's second goal of the game 40 seconds in the final frame trimmed UML's lead to one again (10-9).
  • Over the next nine-plus minutes, NJIT had several opportunities to tie the game for the first time since the first quarter but were plagued by a number of turnovers. However, the Highlanders forced a few of their own during that same stretch as part of a shutout quarter - the first time all season NJIT kept an opponent from scoring in a quarter.
  • The defensive efforts gave the Highlander offense time and Corry rewarded the team with his third score and a 10-10 tie with 5:28 left in the game.
  • UMass Lowell had its last chance of the game to take a late lead but Brown made his last save to keep things square. NJIT put together three shots in the final 45 seconds and a chance in front by Willson with eight seconds left but couldn't break the stalemate themselves.


OVERTIME

  • NJIT made short work of the extra period, forcing a wide shot by UML and an eventual shot clock violation before winning it on Sininsky's third goal on its first shot of OT.


PROGRAM PROGRESS

The victory over UMass Lowell was a milestone one for a young Division I program that just concluded its ninth year of existence. Today's win:

  • Set a new single-season record for wins (3), besting its 2019 win total of two
  • Was the tenth win all-time in program history
  • Was the second one-goal victory and third win ever by two or fewer goals - all this season
  • Gave NJIT its third-ever win when trailing after three quarters (all this season)
  • Was NJIT's second-ever America East conference win (both over UMass Lowell)
  • Was NJIT's first-ever overtime victory (loss last season's OT game at Marist and their first-ever OT contest at UML in 2016)
  • Gave the Highlanders a poetic bookend to the season. In the opener at Siena, NJIT scored 11 goals in a one-goal loss to the Saints. In the finale, the Highlanders' 11 goals proved to be enough in a one-goal win over the River Hawks