NEWARK, NJ--Goaltender Brian Byrnes kept Monmouth off the scoreboard for the 1 st two periods last night to extend his shutout streak to almost 5 ½ periods. Byrnes continued to frustrate the Hawks as he made several spectacular saves before Monmouth broke through with 14:13 left in the 3 rd period.

The 108:30 streak, stretching back to the 3 rd period against Montclair is the most impressive since Joe Cestaro & Yllano Tubilleja combined to allow only 1 goal in 9 periods back in 2008-2009.

On the offensive side of the puck, freshman Ryan Downey netted his first goal as a Highlander and James Copeland continued his impressive play scoring 2 goals to bring his season total to 4 goals in as many games. Matt Sendecki and Matt Torre with a goal apiece extended the lead to 5-0 by the 2 nd intermission.

The Hawks finally broke through in the 3 rd period and they did so in a big way, scoring 4 goals in 5 minutes to make it a 1-goal game. However, the Highlander withstood the challenge as

Ted Lee notched his 2 nd of the season and Matt Torre his 2 nd of the game to put it away for the Highlanders 2 nd win of the season.

Goals: Downey, Copeland (2), Sendecki, Torre (2), Lee
Assists: Smith, Ganta (2) Culp, Torre, Lee (2), Sendecki (2), Copeland
Saves: Byrnes 39 saves
SOG: Monmouth – 43 NJIT – 39
PP: Monmouth – 1/3 NJIT – 0/2

The season series between Monmouth and NJIT continues this coming weekend with game #3 at Prudential Center on Saturday 4/10/21 at 5:00 pm.