The UMass Lowell men’s lacrosse team will travel to New Jersey to play against the NJIT Highlanders on April 11. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium in Newark.
This matchup comes as the River Hawks seek to improve their record after falling to UMBC, 18-4, in their last outing. Freshman Ryan Proctor scored two goals in that game, marking his first multi-goal performance. Sophomore Griffin Sumwalt also contributed two goals and a ground ball, while Danny Burke and Jayden Consigli each added an assist. Goalkeepers AJ True and Scott Kosakowski combined for twelve saves.
Through nine games this season, Burke leads the team with 22 points, followed by Alex Lafreniere with 21 points and a team-high of sixteen goals. James Donnelly has contributed eight goals and seven assists for fifteen points. Justin Alexander stands out at faceoff with a .647 win percentage—second-best in America East and sixth nationally—and leads the conference with seventy-four ground balls.
Earlier this season against Mercyhurst, Donnelly set new program records with five goals and three assists for eight points in one game. His late-game scoring helped force overtime before UMass Lowell secured a double-overtime victory—their first overtime win since defeating UMBC in 2019.
NJIT enters Saturday’s contest with a four-win, seven-loss record after recent defeats by Vermont and Bryant. Blake Piscitiello leads their offense with forty-nine points from twenty-seven goals and twenty-two assists, ranking second in the conference. Defenders Emmerick Dopona and Sullivan O’Brien have recorded eighteen and thirteen caused turnovers respectively, while Michael Gaffney has won forty percent of his faceoffs this year.
Saturday’s meeting marks the tenth all-time matchup between these teams; UMass Lowell holds a six-to-three advantage overall after winning last year’s contest ten-to-eight.
