Men's Lacrosse Earns Season-Opening Road Victory Over St. John's

Published: Saturday, February 3, 2024

The NJIT men's lacrosse team opened the 2024 season - their historic tenth year of existence - with a milestone 10-8 road victory over the St. John's Red Storm Saturday afternoon at DaSilva Memorial Field.

The win gives the Highlanders (1-0) their second-ever season-opening win, first season premiere win on the road, and first triumph in an opener since defeating Hampton 24-7 during the shortened 2020 campaign (2/1/2020). NJIT's win over St. John's (0-1) also marks the first time in three tries that the Highlanders have beaten a Big East opponent (previously 0-2 against Georgetown).

HIGHLANDER LEADERS

  • Arthur Miller had a career game, scoring a career-high five goals to lead NJIT to victory. Miller was joined on the multi-goal front by Jack Bowie (2 G) while Ryan Sininsky, Owen Corry,and Jesse Roth each added goals. 
  • Garrett Muscatella was able to record multiple points by way of a pair of assists, with Roth and Owen Mercado contributing NJIT's other helpers.
  • Liam Brown was his usual solid self in goal, making 20 saves in the win while playing all 60 minutes.
  • Without fellow faceoff specialist Isaac Vanzomeren, Billy Kroeger excelled at midfield, finishing 14-21 on faceoffs and adding eight ground balls to his tally.
  • Miller, Brown and Teddy Grimley accounted for the Highlanders' three caused turnovers.


1ST QUARTER

  • St. John's opened the scoring between the two teams, jumping out to a 3-0 lead against the Highlanders before Ryan Sininsky stopped the run with NJIT's opening goal of the year (6:35).
  • The Red Storm would score two more goals prior to Arthur Miller netting the Highlanders' second of the day off a Mercado assist (2:48), making the score 5-2.


2ND QUARTER

  • NJIT started the period on a man-up opportunity from the end of the first but were unable to capitalize.
  • The Highlanders would balance things out with a successful penalty kill of their own after an infraction at the 13:26 mark.
  • Both teams were held scoreless for more than seven minutes before Arthur Miller scored his second (8:25), corralling a fortunate bounce off a Benjamin Roberts shot that was saved and cutting their deficit to 5-3.
  • Excellent ball movement led to the Highlanders' fourth goal (3:15) on a Jesse Roth to Jack Bowie connection and the visitors tied the game at 5-5 (2:13) as Miller secured the first half hat trick.


3RD QUARTER

  • Jesse Roth gave NJIT their first lead of the game with 10:02 left in the period on a solo effort in front of goal.
  • Arthur Miller and Garrett Muscatella connected on the next two goals of the contest (8:49 and 5:16) to take their largest lead of the day, 8-5.
  • St. John's would cut NJIT's lead to 8-6 with 1:41 left in the third, stopping NJIT's seven-goal run that began in the latter stages of the first period.
  • The game returned to a one-goal affair after another St. John's score with 48 seconds remaining in the period.


4TH QUARTER

  • St. John's pulled within one of NJIT once again, 9-8, with a solo goal at the 11:47 mark of the quarter.
  • Owen Corry reestablished the Highlanders' two-goal cushion (10-8) with his first goal of the game (10:46).
  • Both teams would go scoreless the rest of the way, with Brown contributing to St. John's drought at the end with five of 20 saves after Corry's goal.


OTHER NOTES

  • Arthur Miller's career-high output marks his third-ever game with at least three goals and his first since netting three against Mount St. Mary's on February 18 of last season.
  • Miller's performance was also the first five-goal outing by a Highlander since Corry's five goal showing at UMass Lowell on March 27, 2021.
  • Brown has now made double-digit saves in his last 14 games, dating back to the 2023 season opener. 
  • Brown's 20-save effort is the sixth 20+ save performance of his career and first since last year's opener at Siena, when he also made 20 stops.
  • With 570 career saves, Brown is also closing in on the school record for career saves, currently held by former Highlander Nick Marzullo (579 from 2015-18)
  • Today's win was the 11th all time for NJIT in program history

NEXT UP
NJIT's home opener will come Feb. 10 when the Highlanders face the Siena Saints. First faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.