LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. --- The NJIT men's lacrosse team completed the road portion of its 2019 schedule with a 20-18 defeat to the Siena Saints Saturday afternoon at Hickey Field.

Aaron Forster, Ryan Darrow and Collin Fogerty led the way for NJIT (2-11) as Forster and Darrow each registered a hat trick and Fogerty dished out four assists, one shy of Forster's school record.

NJIT (2-11) opened the game's scoring with an unassisted goal by Darrow at the 13:54 mark. Jackson Boyd - one of three players to add two goals - added NJIT's second goal with 2:50 left in the period but only after Siena (6-5) scored five straight to spark their offense. 

The Saints took a 6-2 edge into the second quarter and added a quick score to push their lead to 7-2 but the Highlanders rebounded by having four different players - Colton Johnson, Forster, Boyd, and Vincent D'Agostino - tally goals to pull the Highlanders to within one, 7-6.

Siena would score three of the final four goals of the period - Cole Robillard netted NJIT's score during the stretch - to go into halftime with a 10-7 advantage.

After Siena started the third with a goal at the 13:53 mark, Forster put home his second of the afternoon to bring the score down to 11-8.

Noah Kepes would add a goal to the ledger (6:51) in the midst of Siena extending their lead to 16-9 with a minute and a half left in the game. With limited time left in the third, Fogerty and Darrow put up two goals to set the score at 16-11 before the start of the fourth. 

NJIT won the fourth quarter, 7-4, and it was nearly enough to complete the Highlanders' comeback. Sixteen seconds into the fourth, Joe Covino scored an unassisted goal to make the score 16-12. Three of the next four would go to the Saints, extending their lead to 19-13 with 5:31 left in the game. NJIT roared back with three straight scores - including a faceoff scoop-and-score from Tyler Stevenson - to once again trim the deficit to three, 19-16 with 4:12 to go.

Siena scored their final goal with 3:14 on the clock, leaving NJIT needing four goals to force overtime. Forster would score one more time and assist on another goal but the Highlanders would fall a couple of goals short.