NEWARK, N.J. --- NJIT men's lacrosse will close out the 2019 campaign at home on Friday, April 26 against the No. 19/18 Army West Point Black Knights.
LAST TIME OUT
NJIT opened its final homestand of the 2019 season on April 20, falling to the No. 18/19 Georgetown Hoyas 23-7 Saturday afternoon at Frederick Douglass Field. The game also served as Senior Day for the Highlanders, who honored their eight graduating seniors during a pregame ceremony. The student-athletes celebrated by the program were
Ryan Darrow,
Kevin Falteisek,
Aaron Forster,
Brett Goldstein,
Cole Robillard,
Jacob Sieber,
Tyler Stevenson, and
Alex Stiers.
Max Wilson recorded the first multi-goal game of his career, scoring twice to lead NJIT.
CONSISTENT OFFENSE
NJIT's 18-goal outing at Siena extended its program-record streak of double figure scoring performances to four. The Highlanders also scored 26 goals at Hampton on April 6 (the team's first-ever 20-goal game), ten goals at Manhattan on March 30 and 11 goals vs Wagner on March 23.
BEST FOOT FORWARD
After NJIT's win at Hampton, three of NJIT's five all-time victories as a young program have come against Hampton. All three wins make up the top three all-time performances for NJIT in terms of scoring (26 in 2019, 17 in 2017, 15 in 2018) and margin of victory (17 in 2019, 14 in 2017, 7 in 2018).
KEEPING IT 100
Aaron Forster's goal at the 14:06 mark of the third quarter against Manhattan on March 30 was the 100th of his career, making him one of 21 active Division I players (as of April 23) to record triple-digit goals.
LIGHTING IT UP
Aaron Forster's nine-goal, 11-assist performance against Quinnipiac on March 2 was memorable on a number of fronts. Both numbers extended Forster's previous school records (5 goals, March 17, 2017 vs Rutgers; 9 points, April 15, 2017 at Hampton) and currently place the Ottawa native atop the NCAA national lists in both categories. Forster was named to the USILA Team of the Week on March 6 due to his performance.
ON A TEAR
Forster (Feb. 23 - Mar. 16) and
Vincent D'Agostino (Mar. 19 - present) has posted the longest goal scoring streaks of the season at five games.
Joe Covino (Mar. 23 - present),
Collin Fogerty (Feb. 9 - Mar. 2), and
Ryan Darrow (Mar. 5-19) has the second longest streak at four games. Forster (Feb. 23 - Mar. 9) and Darrow (Mar. 5-19) also hold the mark for consecutive multi-goal games this season (4), with Fogerty (Feb.9 - 23) in second place with three.
MAKING A POINT
Collin Fogerty and
Ryan Darrow have produced the two longest point scoring streaks of the season. After not recording a point in the season opener, Fogerty has had at least one in 13 straight games, while Darrow opened the year with a nine-game point scoring run.
THE BIG FIVE-O
With his third goal against Fairfield,
Ryan Darrow reached the 50 goal mark for his career. Darrow is in second place all-time in Highlander history in goals scored.
OFF THE WALL
Alexzander Hunt already owns three of the top four single-game save performances in Highlander history. Hunt made a school-record 22 saves against Delaware at home on February 16 and followed it up with a 20-save outing at VMI last week. Hunt added a 21-save effort against UMass on March 9. The old record and only other 20-save performance in NJIT history belonged to former Highlander
Nick Marzullo (21 vs UMass-Lowell on April 29, 2017). Hunt is currently fourth in the country in saves per game (14.43).
ROAD WARRIORS
NJIT's matchup with Siena was the third in its season-long three-game road swing for the team. The Highlanders faced Manhattan in Riverdale, N.Y. (March 30), Hampton in Virginia (April 6), and Siena in Loudonville, N.Y. (April 13) during the stretch.
TEAM LEADERS
Aaron Forster (32 goals, 48 points),
Collin Fogerty (17 assists),
John Tachon (57 ground balls),
Tyler Stevenson (123-250 FOs; .492),
Kevin Falteisek (20 caused turnovers), and
Alexzander Hunt (202 saves) are pacing the Highlanders so far this season.
STOP AND GO
On two occasions,
Kevin Falteisek matched the NJIT record for caused turnovers in a game with four - February 16 vs Delaware and March 16 at Saint Joseph's.
FIGURING IT OUT
After scoring only one goal in his first nine games, freshman
Joe Covino has scored six goals in his last four games and added an assist, five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
QUICK DRAW
Tyler Stevenson improved his program record for faceoff wins in a game with 20 during the Highlanders' game at Lafayette (20-26).
(CLOSE TO) HOME SWEET HOME
NJIT's 2019 home schedule is its first as a program that will be played exclusively in Newark. The Highlanders have played the majority of their home games for the last four years at Drew University and are expected to begin play on NJIT's new on-campus field in 2020 when they become members of the Northeast Conference.
HIGHEST OF HIGHLANDERS
Aaron Forster continues to sit atop the record books for the young Highlander program. After his last game, Forster extended his marks for most career goals (111), assists (51), and points (162) in NJIT history.
THE MORE, THE MERRIER
In 8 of 14 games this season, NJIT has had at least three players score multiple goals - on the road at Lehigh, Lafayette, VMI, Saint Joseph's, Manhattan, Hampton, and Siena, and at home vs Wagner.
CAPTAINS FOR 2019
Fifth-year head coach
Travis Johnson has announced the four student-athletes who were voted captains by their teammates for 2019. Selected to lead the Highlanders are: senior midfielder
Ryan Darrow, senior attacker
Aaron Forster, junior attacker
Ryan Kaden, and junior defender
John Tachon. "Our team has chosen four outstanding young men that are stellar student-athletes, great leaders, high character men and phenomenal people. They lead by example and elevate the people around them. We are excited that they will lead us in the 2019 season," Johnson said about the quartet.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
The Highlanders have continued to grow in their program in their five seasons of existence. After bringing in their largest squad ever in 2018 (38 members), the Highlanders has increased their numbers this year to 43 after bringing 11 newcomers into the fold.
QUALITY COMPETITION
NJIT'S 15-game schedule includes matchups with four teams that have been ranked in either the Inside Lacrosse or USILA poll at some point this season: Lehigh (13th during NJIT game), UMass (RV during NJIT game), Georgetown (18th/19th during NJIT game), and Army West Point.
IN 2018...
- Forster paced NJIT in goals (30), assists (13), total points (43), man-up goals (6), shots (109), and shots on goal (58).
- Tachon scooped up the most ground balls (94) and caused the most turnovers (18).
-
Adam Gonzalez won 43.5% of his faceoffs (91-209) to lead the Highlanders.
SCOUTING ARMY WEST POINT
Army West Point is currently ranked 19th in this week's Inside Lacrosse poll and 18th in the USILA rankings. The Black Knights have split their last four contests, losing their Patriot League finale against No. 8 Loyola. Army is led by Miles Silva (30 goals), Brendan Nichtern (34 assists, 58 points), Johnny Surdick (52 ground balls, 30 caused turnovers), Ethan Barangan (60 FO wins), and AJ Barretto (150 saves).
Army leads the all-time series 3-0. The two teams last met in 2018, with Army defeating NJIT 14-5 on February 13.
