NEWARK, N.J. --- Seniors Ryan Darrow and Aaron Forster each scored a pair of goals to lead the NJIT men's lacrosse team to its first victory of the season, an 8-5 triumph over the Monmouth Hawks Tuesday evening at Rutgers-Newark's Alumni Field.

The duo - who have scored in the same game four times in six contests this year - were two of the six players to find the net in NJIT's first victory since defeating Hampton on April 14 of last season. Senior Cole Robillard, along with sophomores Vincent D'Agostino, Colton Johnson and Jackson Boyd, helped propel NJIT (1-5) to victory over the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) preseason favorites. 

NJIT was able to strike first in what turned into the lowest combined scoring game of the season (13 total goals). D'Agostino put up the first score less than two minutes into the match to give the Highlanders some early momentum.

It would take close to ten minutes before Monmouth (1-4) responded and tied the game and the Hawks took the lead a mere second before the first quarter ended on a close range shot.

Monmouth added their third goal of the game two and a half minutes into the second period to take a 3-1 lead over the host Highlanders. Determined to keep themselves in the contest, NJIT used solo goals from Johnson, Darrow and Forster regain a one-score advantage (4-3) before halftime.

The Highlanders turned their three-goal run in the second into a 6-0 surge by the end of the third period, shutting out the Hawks to open the half and getting contributions from Boyd, Forster and Johnson to take a 7-3 edge.

Monmouth started their last efforts at a comeback around the midpoint of the final quarter and had cut NJIT's lead down to to 7-5 with just over three minutes remaining in the game.

NJIT would win the ensuing faceoff and tack on an insurance goal from Darrow with 1:54 left to seal the victory.

Freshman Matthew Bowerman led the team in ground balls (5) while sophomore Alexzander Hunt made 13 saves in a full game's work.

OTHER NOTES

• Today's win was the first in program history for NJIT when scoring in single digits.
• The victory also marks the earliest (six games) the Highlanders have recorded their first win of the season

NJIT will complete its three-game homestand on Saturday, March 9 with a 1 p.m. game against UMass.