Men's Lacrosse | 3/24/2017 1:20:00 PM
The Highlanders look to defeat Wagner for the first time in program history while also gaining their first win of 2017, while the Seahawks look to snap a two game losing streak on Saturday at Drew University's Ranger Stadium.
ALL TIME SERIES
Wagner leads the series 2-0.
In the Highlanders first year as a varsity program, they were defeated by the Seahawks 7-2 on Lubetkin Field March 28, 2015.
Last season the game was a lot closer with Wagner coming out with the close 10-8 win. The Highlanders had the 3-0 lead going into halftime, but were outscored 10-5 in the second half.
Aaron Forster tallied three assists in the game with
Nick Marzullo posting 16 saves for NJIT. For Wagner the McMenamin brothers tallied nine points between the two of them, with William scoring four goals and Patrick notching two goals and three assists. Andrew Steilein added a goal and three assists.
Former Highlanders
Joe Lomeli and
Matt Cechini tallied three goals between them when NJIT lost to Wagner last season. As of 2017 Lomeli and Cechini are both on the Seahawks roster. Lomeli is currently NJIT's leader in career goals (36), with
Aaron Forster trailing by only one with six games remaining. Forster recently shattered Lomeli's record for points in a season, Lomeli left NJIT with 40 and sophomore Forster currently has 50.
A LOOK AT THE SEAHAWKS
In their NEC opener last Saturday, the Seahawks lost 17-5 to Hobart.
One of Wagner's four captains Andrew Streilein leads Wagner in all scoring categories: goals (13), assists (8) and points (21).
Joe Lomeli and Nick Ancona each have 16 points, Lomeli on 12 goals and four assists and Ancona on 10 goals and six assists. Fifth-year Captain Paul DeVita rounds out the top four with 10 goals and three assists.
Defenseman Andrew Park has a team-high 29 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers. Starting goalie Matt Sefcik has stopped 102 shots and boasts a .557 save percentage.
Graduate students William McMenamin and Daniel Valencia round out the Wagner captain foursome. McMenamin has three goals and seven ground balls on the year while Valencia has 12 ground balls and an assist.
As of March 21, Andrew Park ranks sixth in the nation in caused turnovers per game with 2.22, and Matt Sefcik ranks 16th in save percentage (557), 20th in saves per game (11.33) and 32nd in goals against percentage (9.87)
The Seahawks were picked to finish seventh out of seven teams in the Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll back in February. On February 20, Matt Sefcik was named NEC Men's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week for posting a career-high 17 saves in the Seahawks 9-8 victory over Lafayette, which was their first win of the season.
A LOOK AT THE HIGHLANDERS
Sophomore
Aaron Forster has broken four NJIT records so far this season.
Forster broke the NJIT career points record and the career assists record on March 13 against Army, with a goal and an assist. From his assist on
Cole Robillard's goal in the fourth quarter, Forster broke the career points record with 26 goals and 15 assists for 41 points, and broke the career assists record.
In the Highlanders close 10-6 loss to #5 Rutgers on March 17, Forster broke the NJIT record for most goals in a game with five. The record was previously held by Forster and
Joe Lomeli who scored four goals against Vermont on February 16, 2016. Then against Fairfield on March 21, Forster broke the record for goals in a season, notching his 20t goal in the fourth quarter to break Lomeli's record 19 back in 2015. Forster needs one more goal to tie Lomeli's all-time record of 36 career goals.
Forster currently leads the team in goals (20) and points (22) and adds two assists.
The Ryan triple threat of
Ryan Callaghan,
Ryan Darrow and
Ryan Kaden combine for 26 goals and 15 assists between them. Callaghan has 12 goals and five assists for 17 points, with Darrow right behind recording nine goals and four assists. Freshman Kaden leads the team with six assists and also has five goals.
John Tachon is the team leader in ground balls with 42 and caused turnovers with 11.
Cameron Cronk has started in the Highlanders last four games stopping 55 shots and posting a .455 save percentage, while junior captain
Nick Marzullo has five starts on the year, with 54 saves and a .462 save percentage.
John Tachon ranks 33rd in NCAA Division I in ground balls per game with 4.67 and
Aaron Forster ranks 49th for goals per game with 2.22.
