NEWARK, NJ - The NJIT Highlanders were hoping to rebound after a 8-3 loss against Stevens last Saturday.
The Highlanders game against Yale scheduled last Sunday in New Haven, CT was a forfeit win after the Bulldogs were suspended by the MCHC. NJIT's ACHA record is now at 2-12-1 for the season. But, the Yeshiva Maccabees defeated the Highlanders 8-6 at RWJ. The Maccabees are an associate member of the MCHC and are not considered an official ACHA team. That puts NJIT's record at 3-3 against non-ACHA teams.
The Maccabees jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st period and kept the lead into the locker room. The Highlanders responded with 4 goals in the 2nd period with Brenden Smith scoring 1:28 into the period. Brendan Clayton and Ryan Downey with the assists. Eric Cacdac cut the deficit to one a minute and 33 seconds later with Rohan Ganta getting the helper. Yeshiva scored 2 goals to regain their three-goal advantage. But, NJIT responded just 26 seconds after the Maccabees 5th goal at 17:42 as Ganta scored. Matthew Francescutto and Cacdac got the assists on the goal. Noah Bergen would make it a 5-4 game with just over a minute left in the period. Ganta got his 2nd assist of the game and that would be the score after the 2nd intermission.
The Maccabees would once again have a 2-goal lead at 6-4 early in the 3rd period. But, NJIT resiliency would show up once again as Ganta got his 2nd goal near the halfway point of the period as Cacdac and Francescutto were the assists. The Highlanders would tie the game 33 seconds later when Francescutto scored with Ganta and Cacdac with the helpers. Yeshiva would regain the lead with under seven minutes remaining in the game. NJIT had a golden opportunity to tie the game after a 4-on-4 expired giving them a two-man advantage. The Highlanders had a 6-on-4 advantage with the net empty. Unfortunately, Smith's attempt to throw the puck into the offensive zone was stopped and the Maccabees got an empty net goal. Noah Gibb made 20 saves on the night.
Goals: Smith, Cacdac, Ganta (2), Bergen, Francescutto
Assists: Clayton, Downey, Cacdac(3), Ganta (3), Francescutto (2)
SOG: Yeshiva - 29 | NJIT - 25
PP: Yeshiva - 1/4 | NJIT - 0/3
PK: Yeshiva - 3/3 | NJIT - ¾
The Highlanders' games this coming weekend will be at home against St. Thomas Aquinas in their final MCHC game of the season on Friday at 8:30 pm and Saturday in Wayne, NJ at 8 pm against Ramapo College.
