Men's Lacrosse Rolls To 6-0 With 15-5 Win Over Wagner

Published: Saturday, March 2, 2024

Not even Mother Nature can stop the Highlanders right now.

Despite rainy conditions throughout the contest, the NJIT men's lacrosse team improved to 6-0 with a 15-5 victory over the Wagner Seahawks Saturday afternoon at Hameline Field.

HIGHLANDER LEADERS
NJIT was led by Garrett Muscatella's career-high-tying six-point showing (4 G, 2 A). Arthur Miller logged four points of his own (3 G, 1 A) while Owen Corry scored twice and six other Highlanders - Jack Bowie, Gabe Thompson, Jesse Roth, Logan Hone, Adyn Cover and Keegan Ford - all contributed goals.

Bowie matched Muscatella's two assists while Thompson, Ryan Sininsky, Nate Paulo, Beck Gozdenovich, and Benjamin Roberts each had an assist.

Billy Kroeger was 12-22 at the faceoff X and added a game-high seven ground balls. Teddy Grimley and reigning America East Defensive Player of the Week Hank Bethel posted a team-high three caused turnovers each, nearly accounting for half of NJIT's 14 CTOs.

Liam Brown made 13 saves in the winning effort and has now recorded double digit saves in his last 19 games dating back to last season.

1ST QUARTER

  • NJIT jumped out to a 2-0 lead within the first three minutes of the game on solo goals from Corry (13:03) and Muscatella (12:16).
  • Wagner cut the Highlander advantage in half less than a minute later (11:23) but Corry added a second (2:01) to give NJIT a 3-1 edge after 15 minutes.


2ND QUARTER

  • Miller connected with Ford less than 90 seconds into the second (13:43) and scored himself off a Bowie helper (11:27) to push NJIT out to a 5-1 lead.
  • Wagner stopped the 3-0 NJIT run with a goal at 6:38 (5-2) but Bowie put NJIT right back up four (6-2) with a Roberts-assisted score with 2:48 remaining in the half.
  • The Seahawks scored their third goal with 1:08 left in the half but the Highlanders kept their four-goal advantage at the half with a last second Muscatella-to-Roth score (0:01).


3RD QUARTER

  • Wagner struck first in the second near the halfway point of the third (7:18) but NJIT immediately responded with two goals from Hone (5:33 from Muscatella) and Muscatella (4:29 from Sininsky), giving NJIT its largest lead of the game at 9-4.
  • Another Wagner score with 49 seconds left was once again met with an NJIT counter from Miller (0:06) as the Highlanders went into the fourth with a five-goal lead, 10-5.


4TH QUARTER

  • Muscatella secured his hat trick via Bowie's second assist 45 seconds into the period and added his fourth off an assist from Gozdenovich to give the Highlanders a 12-5 lead with 11:44 to go.
  • Cover scored his second career goal in as many games with a solo shot three minutes later (8:34) to put NJIT ahead 13-5.
  • Thompson had his hand in the next two goals, assisting on Miller's hat trick clincher (5:49) and scoring his first career goal off a Paulo assist (5:10) to set the final margin.


OTHER NOTES

  • The Highlanders, who received votes in the February 26 Inside Lacrosse Media and USILA/Blatant Lacrosse Coaches polls this week, are the first team in the nation to reach 6-0 on the season. The win also pushes the nation's longest winning streak to seven games, dating back to last season.
  • NJIT is now one win away from locking in at least a .500 overall record for the first time in program history.
  • The wire-to-wire win was the Highlanders' second 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 ten-goal win is NJIT's fourth-ever all-time by double digits and first since the 2020 Hampton win. It also marks the largest lead at any point for the Highlanders this season.
  • The victory was also NJIT's second 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 two (Monmouth, Wagner) were NJIT's second against those teams.
  • Muscatella's six-point effort matched Ryan Sininsky's output against Monmouth (3 G, 3 A) for the team's season high.
  • Miller added to his team lead in goals and now has 17 on the season. He has scored multiple goals in all but one game this season. 
  • In a sign that the program is finally turning the corner after years of hard work: NJIT is 9-10 in its last 19 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 will close non-conference play at home next week (Saturday, March 9) against Lindenwood. First faceoff is scheduled for Noon in Newark.