Fred Goode Photography

Box Score

NJIT NJIT 2-8, 0-4 AE

Merrimack MC 5-5, 1-3 AE

NJIT NJIT

2-8, 0-4 AE

Final

Apr. 08, 2023

Merrimack MC

5-5, 1-3 AE

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
NJIT NJIT	4	3	3	2	12
Merrimack MC	4	4	4	3	15

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse | 4/8/2023 7:45:00 PM

Men's Lacrosse Defeated By Merrimack In Road Tilt

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at UAlbany

4/15/2023 | 3:00 PM

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Full Schedule

Apr. 15 (Sat) / 3:00 PM

at UAlbany

History

Recap
Roster

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — Even with three Highlanders producing hat tricks, the NJIT men's lacrosse team was unable to secure its first America East win of the year as the visitors fell 15-12 to the Merrimack Warriors Saturday afternoon at Duane Stadium.

HIGHLIGHTS

Garrett Muscatella posted career highs in points (6) and assists (3) while logging his third hat trick of the season. Logan Hone led all Highlanders in scoring with four goals while Jack Bowie added three and Owen Corry and Will Labartino chipped in 1 apiece.
Corry, Brandon Wasitowski, Beck Gozdenovich, and Keegan Ford each recorded assists.
Isaac Vanzomeren corralled a career-high and game-leading ten ground balls, along with a season-best 14 faceoff wins.
Liam Brown played another complete contest and made 12 saves on the day.

1ST QUARTER

Logan Hone put the Highlanders on the board first, picking up a loose ball in front of goal and connecting on his first goal of the game (11:40).
Merrimack would answer back at the 10:13 mark to even the score at 1-1.
Hone's second of the game came on a man-up opportunity off a pass from Muscatella but the Warriors would match the Highlanders once again to make the score 2-2 at the first media timeout (6:15).
Bowie broke the second tie of the game with a Corry-assisted quick strike at the 4:48 mark to give the Highlanders a 3-2 lead and another Bowie score off a Muscatella dish gave NJIT its largest lead of the match, 4-2, with 1:46 to go.
However, two quick goals in the final 30 seconds sent the teams into the second all knotted at 4-4.

2ND QUARTER

NJIT began the second by pushing their lead back to two with the first two goals of the period: Corry's 50th career score at the 14:07 mark and a hat trick clincher from Bowie via Muscatella (12:58).
The back-and-forth nature of the game continued as Merrimack tied the match once again after scoring the next two goals to make it 6-6 with 8:57 to go.
Merrimack took their first lead of the game on a goal with 4:33 on the clock (7-6).
Hone secured his hat trick on a distance shot off a Keegan Ford assist and evened the match again at 7-7 with 55 seconds to go in the half.
The Warriors would escape with the first half lead after a late goal with 11 seconds to go gave them an 8-7 advantage.

3RD QUARTER

Merrimack opened the second half on a 3-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 11-7 with 7:56 to go.
NJIT pulled back to within three after Muscatella shut down what had been a four-goal run for the Warriors (5:42, 11-8).
Hone added the second goal in about two and a half minutes' time off a Merrimack miscue to cut the host's lead to two (11-9, 3:26).
Labartino was left open and attacking towards goal and converted to make it a one-score game (11-10, 1:45) after what was a three-goal run for the Highlanders.
Another goal for the Warriors within a minute of a period's end (0:42) gave Merrimack a 12-10 lead heading into the fourth.

4TH QUARTER

Merrimack netted the first two goals of the final frame to push ahead, 14-10, before a Gozdenovich-to-Muscatella connection made the score 14-11, with 8:24 remaining.
The two teams traded the next two goals, with Muscatella's hat trick goal making the score 15-12 at the 5:37 mark. Unfortunately, NJIT was unable to pull any closer.

OTHER NOTES

Muscatella's six points were the most by a Highlander since Corry recorded seven (5 G, 2 A) in NJIT's first-ever America East win at UMass Lowell on March 27, 2021.
Hone is the fifth Highlander this year to post a game with four goals, joining Corry, Bowie, Muscatella, and Gavyn Willson.
Vanzomeren's ten ground ball effort was the first for an NJIT player since April 28, 2018, when former Highlander John Tachon scooped up 11 against UMass Lowell.
Corry and Brown each hit milestones against Merrimack: Corry hit the 50 career goal mark and Brown surpassed 500 career saves. Corry is the third Highlander to reach that mark (Aaron Forster, 115; Ryan Darrow, 57) and Brown is the second to reach his (Nick Marzullo, 579).
Corry's active point streak reached 20 games after today's game (27 G, 16 A during streak). The production run began last season at Army West Point on February 26, 2022.