Men's Lacrosse Trounces Lindenwood 18-5, Moves To 7-0

Published: Saturday, March 9, 2024

#RollTech rolls on.

The NJIT men's lacrosse team moved to 7-0 on the year with a 18-5 win over the Lindenwood Lions Saturday afternoon at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.

In a year of growth, firsts and new heights, the tenth-year program locked in another with today's victory — with half the season left, NJIT will not finish a season with a losing record for the first time ever. And its next victory will clinch the program's first-ever winning season.

HIGHLANDER LEADERS

At the top of the offensive tally were two five-point games and two hat-trick fueled four-point efforts. Arthur Miller and Ryan Sininsky each produced two goals and three assists while Jesse Roth and Benjamin Roberts logged three goals and an assist apiece. Joining the fray were Jack Bowie & Nate Paulo (2 G); Garrett Muscatella (1 G, 1 A); Owen Corry (2 A); Gabe Thompson, Beck Gozdenovich & Brandon Wasitowski (1 G); and Michael Rettberg & Billy Kroeger (1 A).

Kroeger corralled a game-high ten ground balls while winning over half of his faceoffs (11-19) while Hank Bethel nabbed six ground balls and led all defenders with four caused turnovers. Liam Brown made 13 saves in the win, moving his consecutive streak of double-digit save games to 20. With the game in hand, Brown was also given a substitution for the first time since April 29, 2022, Charlie Schmitt and Tyler Sininsky seeing the field for the first time in their careers.

1ST QUARTER

  • The opening period saw both teams slowly getting their footing offensively, with a Ryan Sininsky goal (1:55) difference between an NJIT lead and a fully scoreless quarter.

2ND QUARTER

  • If the first was a defensive battle, the second turned into an offensive onslaught, with both teams combining for ten goals and the Highlanders scoring the vast majority of them, 8-2.
  • Two separate instances of Lindenwood scoring and NJIT answering with four straight constituted the scoring before the half. 
  • The first wave saw Roth (12:10, from Corry), Roberts (11:14), Bowie (9:31, from R. Sininsky), and Miller (9:31, from Kroeger) find the back of the net.
  • The second 4-0 came from the sticks of Roth (7:49, from Miller), Thompson (3:53, from Roth, Man Up), Roth again (2:40, from R. Sininsky), and Roberts (2:12).
  • All told, NJIT took a 9-2 lead into the locker room.

3RD QUARTER

  • The Highlanders scored the first two goals of the second half (Muscatella at 13:17 from Miller; R. Sininsky at 11:39 from Muscatella) to put together an extended 6-0 run before Lindenwood would score again (10:25) to make the score 11-3.
  • Goals from Miller (9:39 from Rettberg), Roberts (2:44) and Bowie (2:02, from Miller) gave NJIT an 11-point advantage, 14-3.
  • Lindenwood would score late, sending the game into the fourth with the Highlanders leading, 14-4.

4TH QUARTER

  • Paulo would score NJIT's second man-up goal to open the quarter's account and give NJIT a 15-4 lead.
  • Lindenwood would score their fifth and final goal with 9:37 left before NJIT closed out the matchup with three more tallies from Gozdenovich (7:00), Paulo (5:03 from R. Sininsky) and Wasitowski (1:29 from Roberts).

OTHER NOTES

  • The Highlanders, who received votes in the March 4 and February 26 Inside Lacrosse Media and USILA/Blatant Lacrosse Coaches polls, are the first team in the nation to reach 7-0 on the season. The win also pushes the nation's longest winning streak to eight games, dating back to last season.
  • One more win at any point this season will give the Highlanders a winning record for the first time ever.
  • The 13-goal victory is the fifth double-digit win in program history. Coupled with the 10-goal win over Wagner last week, NJIT has now won back-to-back games by double figures for the first time in program history. It also marks the largest lead at any point for the Highlanders this season.
  • The wire-to-wire win was the Highlanders' third straight after not producing one prior since February 1, 2020 when NJIT never trailed in defeating Hampton 24-7 in its first-ever game at the newly opened Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
  • The victory was also NJIT's third straight when leading at the half after not having one prior to March 27, 2021 at UMass Lowell (led 7-4).
  • Four of NJIT's six wins this year (Manhattan, Mount St. Mary's, Siena, St. John's) have been the first-ever for the program against that opponent. The other three (Monmouth, Wagner, Lindenwood) were NJIT's second against those teams.
  • In a sign that the program is finally turning the corner after years of hard work: NJIT now 10-10 in its last 20 games and two seasons (all under head coach Eric Wolf) after going 7-97 in the 104 games and eight seasons prior.

NEXT UP

NJIT opens America East play Saturday, March 16 on the road against the Vermont Catamounts.