NEWARK, N.J. --- Senior Aaron Forster put on a performance for the ages for the NJIT men's lacrosse team but his efforts were not enough to push his team to victory as the Highlanders lost a hard-fought 16-14 game to the Quinnipiac Bobcats Saturday evening at Rutgers-Newark's Alumni Field.

Forster, already the program's all-time leader in goals (85), assists (38), and points (123), reset two of his own single-game records against Quinnipiac, scoring a game-high nine goals and logging 11 total points after dishing out a pair of assists.

NJIT's new goals record is an extension of the five-score performance Forster logged on March 17, 2017 at home against then-No.5 Rutgers and his 11 points eclipsed his mark of nine (4 G, 5 A) at Hampton weeks later on April 15, 2017.

The Ottawa native entered today's contest in the top 20 nationally in career goals (t-16th with 85) and now sits in the top 10 with 94. Forster was also in the top 20 in total points (t-20th; 123) before today's game. Forster is now tied with Jason Knox of Hobart for the national single-game goals lead and has the highest point total in the country this season, passing the ten points Grant Ament of Penn State tallied against Villanova on February 2.

Forster started off quickly while trying to lead NJIT (0-5) to start the game. Quinnipiac (1-3) outscored 8-3 in the first period but Forster netted two of the Highlanders' three goals. Sophomore Collin Fogerty also had an impactful opening quarter, contributing to all three scores (1 G, 2 A).

Forster and the Highlanders showed resolved after their tough first quarter by doing something the team hadn't done all year - matching or outscoring Quinnipiac in each of the final three quarters. The second period opened with Forster scoring a man-up goal at the 9:05 mark off an assist from fellow senior Ryan Darrow (9-4). After Quinnipiac responded at the 7:43 mark, the Highlanders closed out the half with three straight goals - two unassisted from Forster and sophomore Vincent D'Agostino and one by sophomore Jackson Boyd from Forster - to cut the Bobcats' lead to 10-7.

Quinnipiac scored the first goal of the second half but NJIT rattled off another three-goal stretch shortly after as senior Brett Goldstein set up Boyd for one and Forster added two more (one assisted by sophomore Colton Johnson) to pull even to within a goal (11-10) with close to five minutes left in the third. Forster's goal at 5:14 in the third officially reset his single-game record.

Quinnipiac tacked on two more scores before the fourth quarter began to move the score to 13-10.

Forster nearly made up the three-goal deficit by himself to start the fourth, using one solo score and another assisted by senior Kevin Falteisek to cut Quinnipiac's lead to 13-12 with 8:38 remaining. Unfortunately, the Highlanders could pull no closer as Quinnipiac scored three of the game's final five goals. Forster's final goal at 3:27 was his second man-up score of the game and freshman Joe Covino recorded the first goal of his career with a second left in the contest.

Quinnipiac was led by Jake Tomsik, who scored eight goals.

NJIT will play the middle game of its three-game homestand on Tuesday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. against Monmouth.