NEWARK, N.J. --- NJIT Men's Lacrosse closes out a quick two-game turnaround with a Tuesday night matchup at Marist.

LAST TIME OUT
NJIT put together its best offensive effort of the season but were still upended by the Stony Brook Seawolves 20-12 on April 9 in America East action at Lavalle Stadium.

Logan Hone (2 G, 3 A), Gavyn Willson (2 G, 2 A), and Owen Corry (3 G) paced NJIT (0-9, 0-3 AE), recording a combined 12 points. Jack Bowie added a pair of goals, Arthur Miller, Gage Adams, and Garrett Muscatella chipped in a goal each and Colton Johnson added an assist.

Defensively, Billy Kroeger corralled a team high five ground balls and won nine faceoffs, Isaac Vanzomeren added seven faceoff wins, and Teddy Grimley had two of NJIT's seven caused turnovers

Liam Brown and Yanni Kalas evenly split time in the cage, with Brown making nine saves in his 30 minutes and Kalas stopping five shots in his.

OTHER NOTES FROM STONY BROOK

• NJIT's 12 goals were the most scored this year and the program's highest tally since putting up 14 in last year's America East victory at UMass Lowell on March 27, 2021.
• After missing the last three games due to injury, Willson re-established himself with his best game of the season (4 points) after three previous games of three points apiece (3 A at Delaware; 2 G, 1 A vs Lehigh; 1 G, 2 A at Army West Point).
• Corry's hat trick was the Highlanders' first since Miller's three-goal game in the season opener at Delaware on February 5.
• Hone posted an NJIT season-high and career-high five points. This year's previous high for single-game points was four by Adams (2 G, 2 A) at Delaware and Hone's previous high for points was three (3 G) at UMass Lowell last season.
• Grimley's two caused turnovers matched his career best from the Wagner game on March 5.

EVERYDAY IMPACT
Gavyn Willson has been the most consistent Highlander on the offensive side this season. Willson has recorded multiple points in all six matchups he has played in - the only NJIT player to do so. The only other Highlanders approaching that level of consistency are Gage Adams (points in 7-of-9 games, multi points in 5-of-8) and Owen Corry (at least one point in 8-of-9 games).

ROOKIE STANDOUT
Adams' early season efforts earned him the first America East Rookie of the Week honor of 2022 on February 14. The Kirkland, WA native totaled seven points (4 G, 3 A) in the Highlanders' matchups at No. 16/19 Delaware (2 G, 2 A) and vs. No. 15 Lehigh (2 G, 1 A).

Adams' seven points were tied for the league lead with UMass Lowell's Colin Foley and his four goals shared the conference benchmark with Foley and Highlander teammate Arthur Miller.

The honor is the second weekly award NJIT has received since joining the America East. Teammate Owen Corry earned the first - Offensive Player of the Week - last season after leading the Highlanders to their first-ever league win at UMass Lowell.

Adams is currently second on the team in goals (9), assists (7) and points (16).

THE BALL STOPS HERE
Liam Brown continues to rank near the top of the America East stats sheets for goalkeepers. Brown currently ranks second in save percentage (.525), third in saves per game (11.56) and fifth in goals against average (14.09). He also owns the top saves performance in the league (20 vs Lehigh, Feb. 12) and two of the top three (18 at Wagner, Mar. 5)

FACEOFF TAKEOFF
Billy Kroeger's 20 faceoff wins against Delaware tied former Highlander Tyler Stevenson's school record for faceoff wins in a single game. Stevenson set the mark by going 20-26 at Lafayette on February 9, 2019. NJIT's 21 total faceoff wins (21-29) marked the first time the Highlanders corralled at least 20 faceoffs since the 2020 season opener against Hampton (2/1/2020; 20-33).

PUSHING THROUGH
In the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, NJIT will look to complete a 13-game slate in its eighth year as a program and its second season as a member of the America East conference. The Highlanders will play five home games in its third season at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium and travel for eight games.

DURING THE 2021-22 OFFSEASON

• Max Wilson was drafted 12th overall in the 2021 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Draft by the Halifax Thunderbirds.
• Eric Sherman was named an America East Winter Presidential Scholar Athlete as a student-athlete with a GPA of 3.75 or better.
• Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Lenny Kaplan was added to the Board of Directors of the United State Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA).
• Head Coach Travis Johnson made changes to his coaching staff, elevating Blase Mantineo to lead assistant coach and hiring Cade Siddron to round out the staff.

2022 STATS LEADERS
Goals: Owen Corry (10)
Assists: Gavyn Willson (8)
Points: Willson (17)
Ground Balls: Billy Kroeger (28)
Man-Up Goals: Willson (3)
Faceoff %: Kroeger (.547 | 64-117)
Shots: Owen Corry (72)
SOG: Corry (34 | .472)
Caused Turnovers: Lynch Raby/Teddy Grimley (9)

TOP RETURNERS (2021 TOTALS)
Goals: Owen Corry (19)
Assists: Collin Fogerty (11)
Points: Fogerty (26)
Ground Balls: Isaac Vanzomeren (43)
Man-Up Goals: Jack Bowie (4)
Faceoff %: Vanzomeren (.466 | 90-193)
Shots: Corry (79)
SOG: Fogerty (38 | .481)
Caused Turnovers: Lynch Raby (17)

THROUGH THE GAUNTLET
The Highlanders will once again take on a highly competitive schedule with the goal of preparing for the rigors of the America East season. Like 2021, NJIT's schedule includes five teams that at least received votes in the Preseason Inside Lacrosse or USILA/Dynamic poll:

• Delaware: No. 16 IL / No. 19 USILA
• Lehigh: No. 14/10
• Army West Point: No. 10/13
• Vermont: No. 17/15
• UAlbany: RV/RV

WORKING OUR WAY UP
NJIT was voted to finish sixth in the seven-team America East Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll. With the conference's decision regarding Stony Brook's championship eligibility due to its pending departure for the CAA, the Highlanders will look to find their way into the top four of the remaining six teams eligible for the America East tournament and make a league tournament for the first time in program history.

2022 SCHEDULE NOTES

• 13 games scheduled - seven non-conference, six America East
• First home game: February 12 vs Lehigh
• First road game: February 5 at Delaware
• First AE game (road): March 19 at Vermont
• First AE home game: March 26 vs UMass Lowell
• First time opponent: February 19 at Harvard
• Senior Day: April 22 vs UAlbany
• America East Playoffs: March 5-7
• Longest Road Trip: February 19 - March 5 (Harvard, Army West Point, Wagner
• Longest Home Stand: March 26 - April 2 (UMass Lowell, Binghamton)

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Like NJIT, Marist will be playing its final non-conference matchup on Tuesday evening. In their last contest, the Red Foxes lost against No. 3/4 Princeton on the road, 18-7. Marist is led by Jojo Pirreca (19 G, 15 A), Jason Intermesoli (5 G, 17 A), Dylan Bedell (46 GB, 86-203 FO), and Anthony Novellano (13.37 GAA, 148 saves, .529 save percentage).