NEWARK, N.J.—Led by a hat trick from sophomore Jake Davis (Franklin, Mass.), the UMass Lowell men's lacrosse team (1-7, 1-1 America East) battled to a gritty 8-7 win over NJIT (0-8, 0-2 AE) Saturday Night at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.
 
Graduate student Domenic Giachello (Somers, Conn.) finished the night with three points off a goal and two assists to match Davis' point total. Junior Conor Foley (Walpole, Mass.) extended his goal-scoring streak to nine consecutive games with a pair of tallies against the Highlanders. Closing out scoring, graduate student Kyle Laforge (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and freshman Khairi Sears (Columbus, Ohio) found the back of the cage to add a goal apiece to the River Hawks' total.
 
Senior Liam McDonough (Groton, Mass.) continues to be a force at the faceoff X for the River Hawks. The faceoff specialist dominated in the conference clash, winning 12 of 19 faceoffs and picking up six ground balls.
 
In the cage, sophomore Anthony Mancino (Holbrook, N.Y.) played a complete game and made six saves en route to his first collegiate win.
 
"The guys played hard for 60 minutes. There were momentum swings, but we just kept grinding," remarked Head Coach Ed Stephenson. "It was a good all-around team win."
 
The River Hawks claimed an early lead off a three-goal run to kick off the action. Sparking the offense, Davis notched his first of the night just 45 seconds into play as he brought behind the cage before ripping it past NJIT's Liam Brown.
 
After a turnover caused by sophomore Ethan Zupko (Livonia, Mich.) handed possession back to UMass Lowell, Foley capitalized quickly and fired one into the back of the cage to push the lead to 2-0. Sears capped the River Hawks' minutes later after outmaneuvering his defender and rocketing the ball into the net with 8:44 left in the frame.
 
Finding their footing, the Highlanders crept their way back into the mix with a pair of tallies to slice UMass Lowell's lead to 3-2 at the end of the first.  
 
Foley pushed the River Hawks' advantage back out to two just 1:03 into the second quarter after an early NJIT penalty put UMass Lowell on the extra-man opportunity. The goal marked the only scoring chance for either squad as back-and-forth turnovers held the score at 4-2 in favor of the River Hawks heading into the half.
 
The Highlanders controlled the scoresheet in the third, netting three unanswered to take their first and only lead of the game moving into the final 15. The River Hawks responded with an explosive fourth quarter led off by back-to-back tallies from Davis in the first minute to secure his fourth hat trick of the season.
UMass Lowell added two more with just over six minutes left on the clock as LaForge and Giachello launched shots into the twine.
 
NJIT closed in on the lead late, forcing a one-goal game with just 17 seconds on the clock. Strong defense by the visiting squad held off the comeback efforts to send the River Hawks back to the Mill City with the win.
 
UMass Lowell kicks off a four-game homestand next Saturday, April 2, when it hosts UAlbany for a 7 p.m. matchup at Cushing Field.