Hampton, Va. --- Powered by an eight-point effort from Aaron Forster, the NJIT men's lacrosse team dominated the Hampton Pirates in a 26-9 victory Saturday afternoon at Armstrong Stadium.
The Highlanders' offensive explosion set new NJIT single-game records for goals scored (26) and largest margin of victory (17). The previous benchmarks came in NJIT's first-ever meeting against Hampton on April 15, 2017 (17-3). The team total is currently tied with Furman for the second-most in a Division I game this year and was only one goal shy of Penn State's season best of 27.
Forster's seven goals are the second-most the senior has scored in his career, sitting behind the nine-goal showing he had against Quinnipiac on March 2 of this year. The eight total points are the third-most of his Highlander tenure, trailing a nine-point game (4 G, 5A) in NJIT's first matchup with Hampton and the 11 points vs. Quinnipiac.
Here is a closer look at the win:
The overall scoring output was historic for the team as well as for Forster as 17 different Highlanders found the back of the net, including multi-score games from Cole Robillard, Vincent D'Agostino and Ryan Darrow.
Tyler Stevenson, Richard Nardone, Jacob Sieber, Xavier Ritter, Anthony Rodriguez, Eric Sherman, and Brett Goldstein all scored their first goals of the year.
NJIT scored eight goals each in the second and fourth quarters against Hampton. To contrast, the Highlanders have scored eight or fewer total goals in five of their 12 contests
Forster scored NJIT's 17th goal of the day to tie the old record at the 8:20 mark of the third quarter and Max Wilson secured the new record about a minute later (7:17).
NJIT set new season bests in team ground balls (48), shots on goal (41), and caused turnovers (16).
Forster secured a hat trick in the first quarter with one of his three man-up scores. He has six man-up goals on the year, tying his own school record.
Earning a second victory today gave the Highlanders their first multi-win season in the program's five-year history.
NJIT will return to action next Saturday, April 13, when the Highlanders head north to Loudonville to face Siena. First face-off is scheduled for 12 noon.