EASTON, PA – The NJIT men's lacrosse team dropped a 16-6 decision at Lafayette Tuesday evening at Fisher Stadium.
 
NJIT freshman Joe Lomeli recorded his first hat trick of the season, scoring all three goals in the third quarter,  pushing his scoring streak to 10 games.
 
Freshmen Liam Derkasch added two goals and John Roach recorded one for the Highlanders. Freshman Nick Marzullo recorded 15 saves in the loss with four ground balls and one caused turnover.
 
The Leopards were led by junior Robert Orazietti (4 G, 3A), sophomores Kevin Lewis (3G, 1A), Jason Sands (3 A) and Eric Joseph (2G, 1 A).
 
Lafayette's win went to junior Ben Falcone who recorded seven saves in 45 minutes of play. Also stepping into the net for the Leopards was sophomore Matthew Cortese and freshman Henry Vido who tallied a save apiece. 
 
Lafayette took the 2-0 lead with goals from Joseph and senior Sonny Round. With 2:37 left in the first quarter Derkasch put the Highlanders on the board with a shot to the upper right corner. Just under a minute later, Roach scored an unassisted goal to tie the game at 2-2. Freshman goalie Marzullo picked off a pass in front of the goal with five seconds remaining to keep the Leopards from scoring at the end of the period.
 
The Leopards dominated the second quarter scoring five goals. Two of the five goals came from Lewis, and juniors Morgan Westby, Orazietti and Joseph added on the other three goals. for the home team.  NJIT was unable to score in the second quarter and would go into the locker room at halftime, down 7-2.
 
Lomeli, scoring in his tenth straight game, scored a goal in the 14th minute to start the scoring in the third quarter. Lafayette answered back with a goal from Orazietti and a goal by Lewis assisted by Orazietti. Lomeli tallied his second goal of the game at 11:09. The Leopards would extend their lead to 12-4 with two more goals and an assist from Orazietti and goals from Lewis and Round. Lomeli recorded his hat trick on a man-up goal in the fourth minute with a pass from freshman Ryan Bradway. Freshman attack Alex Mezey would score the final goal of the quarter off a pass from Sands ending the quarter with a 13-5 lead.
 
Derkasch recorded his second unassisted goal of the game with 6:50 remaining to give NJIT its sixth and final goal of the game. Lafayette scored three goals in the final quarter cruising to a 16-6 victory.
 
NJIT will return to action on Saturday when the Highlanders visit Marist at 7pm.