Men's Lacrosse | 3/13/2017 10:00:00 AM
NJIT men's lacrosse travels to #11/#13 Army West Point for a 3pm game at Michie Stadium.
ALL TIME SERIES
Army leads the series 1-0 after defeating the Highlanders 16-6 last March 13 at Michie Stadium.
Aaron Forster recorded two goals and an assists in the team's last meeting.
NJIT kept is close with the score 6-4 going into halftime, but the Black Knights pulled away in the fourth scoring eight goals.
Nate Jones tallied four goals while Cole Johnson grabbed two goals and a game-high five assists.
Nick Marzullo stopped 12 shots on goal while Army West Point had three goalies share their duties, AJ Barretto, Matt Isnardi and Paul Newbold.
A LOOK AT THE BLACK KNIGHTS
Picked to finish third in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, Army West Point is currently ranked #11 in the USILA Coaches Poll and #13 in the Maverick Media Poll.
The Black Knights won their fourth straight game on March 11 defeating Lehigh 6-4.
As of March 8, Army West Point ranks in the top 10 in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse, 10
th in scoring offense posting 13.40 goals per game, and 7
th in defense holding their opponents to just 7.20 goals per game.
Preseason Patriot League All-League pick Cole Johnson is the team's leader in assists with six and points with 18 and Nate Jones has a team high 13 goals.
Johnson, who was named to the Tewaarton Award watch list at the end of February, has 155 points in his career and is number 12 on the all-time list with 93 goals and 62 assists.
Dan Grabher has won 10 or more face-offs in all six games this season and has a team-high 45 ground balls and a .644 face-off percentage.
Grabher ranks fifth in ground balls and eighth in face-off winning percentage in the nation.
Johnny Surdick leads the team in caused turnovers with 11.
Goalie AJ Barretto has 47 saves so far, a .553 save percentage and recently tallied a career-high 12 saves against Lehigh.
A LOOK AT THE HIGHLANDERS
The Highlanders have inched closer in recent games for their second program win, losing by three to both Quinnipiac and Mercer.
In both games NJIT was behind early in the first quarter by five goals or more, and outscored their opponents in the remaining three quarters.
Ryan Callaghan leads the team in points with 13 on eight goals and five assists.
Aaron Forster leads the team in goals with ten, while
Ryan Darrow has six goals and four assists and
Ryan Kaden adds five goals and three assists. Forster needs one more point to be the NJIT record holder in career points. He has combined for 39 points on 25 goals and 14 assists with the record being held by former Highlander
Joe Lomeli with 40.
John Tachon has a team-leading 30 ground balls and six caused turnovers.
Against Mercer,
Tyler Stevenson won a career-high eight face-offs going 8-for-15 from the x.
NJIT goalie and Captain
Nick Marzullo has 45 saves and holds a .437 save percentage, while
Cameron Cronk received his first start against Mercer earning a career-high 12 saves and has accumulated 28 saves and a .491 save percentage.
