NEWARK, NJ—The 2015 men's lacrosse season for NJIT will be filled with firsts and Saturday was a big one, as the Highlanders played their first-ever home game, which ended in a 10-3 defeat at the hands of visiting Quinnipiac on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
 
The Highlanders, who were downed 18-4 in their overall program debut at Stony Brook eight days earlier, got a closer result against Quinnipiac and trailed by a 3-2 score after the opening quarter and by 4-2 at the half against the Bobcats (1-1).
 
However, the visitors dominated the third quarter, scoring five unanswered goals for a 9-2 lead through three quarters. The teams then traded a goal each in the final quarter.
 
In addition to Saturday being the first home contest for NJIT men's lacrosse, the Highlanders also forged a tie score for the first time in program history.
 
After giving up a pair of goals down a man to drop behind, 2-0, the Highlanders fought back for even-strength goals by Ryan Bradway at the 7:39 mark of the first quarter and then Joe Lomeli, who knotted the score at 2-2, unassisted 81 seconds after Bradway's tally.
 
The tie lived on for several more minutes before Quinnipiac's Michael Sagl notched his second goal of the quarter, assisted by James Byrns, at the 1:41 mark. The Bobcats would lead for the rest of the day.
 
Byrns scored a killer goal, converting a counter attack feed from Nate Nibbelink for the only goal of the second quarter just 3:11 before the half.
 
Ryan Keenan, who finished with a game-high three goals, got two of them in the big 5-0 third quarter and then netted Quinnipiac's only fourth-quarter goal. Sagl finished with a pair of goals for the Bobcats who got single tallies from five different players.
 
Nibbelink assisted on three scores for the winners and Pat Corcoran added a pair of assists. Four Bobcats had one assist, including Sagl, who combined the two assists and his goals to share game scoring honors with teammates Keenan, Corcoran, and Nibbelink, with three points each.
 
Lomeli scored two of NJIT's three goals to go with the one tally from Bradway. Lally and John Roach each had an assist from the Highlanders.
 
Highlander goalie Nick Marzullo went the distance, making 15 saves in defeat. Jack Brust posted five saves in goal for Quinnipiac.
 
NJIT, which was whistled for eight penalties, gave up four goals down a man and Quinnipiac also had the second-quarter goal when it was down a man. All of the NJIT goals and five of the Bobcat goals were scored at even strength.
 
Quinnipiac, which had taken its early 2-0 lead on goals scored up a man, added two more tallies up a man in the fateful third quarter. However, the first two of the five third-quarter goals for the visitors were scored at even strength. Adam Bellamy buried the first score of the second half at 12:27, assisted by Nibbelink and then Corcoran scored from Sagl at 8:44.
 
The visitors, who spread their five third-quarter goals through the whole period, then got back-to-back scores by Keenan up a man at 6:11 and 3:46, before Connor Meth's unassisted marker at 1:44.
 
Trailing 9-2 through three quarters, NJIT got one back on Lomeli's second goal of the day and third of the season, as Lally assisted with 9:34 left. Keenan closed out his hat trick for the winners with 15 seconds left in the game.
 
NJIT is slated for another home game on Tuesday, when it hosts Vermont in a 4 pm game on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.