LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Nick Harvath (Whitmore Lake, Mich.) logged his first career hat trick, but the UMass Lowell men's lacrosse team (0-13, 0-7 AE) dropped an 11-10, overtime heartbreaker against NJIT (3-10, 1-6 AE) to close out the 2023 season on Senior Day.
 
Although the River Hawks led by as many as five, the Highlanders outscored their hosts, 7-3, in the second half, including the only two goals of the fourth quarter, to knot the game at 10-10 and force overtime. UMass Lowell won the opening faceoff of the sudden victory period, leading to a pair of attempts by graduate student Sean Parker (Flemington, N.J.), but NJIT cleared the ball into its end to set up the game-winner from Ryan Sininsky.
 
Harvath was one of 10 point scorers in the thrilling showdown for the River Hawks. Parker and classmate Dakota Clark (Bedford, N.H.) each added one goal and one assist for two points apiece on the day. Sophomore Trevor Tismo (Centerville, Ohio) registered his first career goal in the contest, as well. Sophomore Alexander Chairs (Ellicott City, Md.) picked up a season-high four groundballs, while freshman goalkeeper Luke Renaud (Skaneateles, N.Y.) collected 10 saves.
 
The River Hawks did not waste any time attacking, as sophomore Ryan Quinlan (Mattapoisett, Mass.) forced a turnover on NJIT's opening possession, allowing the home team to rush into its offensive zone when Clark dished a pass to Parker for the first goal of the day.
 
The Highlanders evened the board just a minute later, but UMass Lowell quickly regained the momentum and closed the first quarter with three consecutive goals, including a pair from Harvath, to take a 4-1 advantage.
 
Clark charged the net and went top shelf to open the second. NJIT answered, but sophomore Riley Lawhorn (Amherst, N.H.) bounced one into the lower corner before sophomore Khairi Sears (Columbus, Ohio) fired a long range laser less than a minute later to make it 7-2. The visitors chipped away with the last goal before the break, but the home team still took a four-goal buffer into halftime.
 
NJIT started the third quarter with a man-up score en route to tallying four of the first five goals of the period to cut the difference to just one, 8-7. However, Harvath locked up the hat trick and Tismo logged his first goal to keep the home team on top, 10-8, heading into the final frame.
 
The visitors pressured in the fourth, knotting it up at 10-10 with 5:38 remaining. With three minutes on the clock, NJIT went on the offensive, but Renaud and the River Hawks fended off a 90-second onslaught with three shot attempts to keep the game even for overtime.