The most exciting game of the season for the NJIT men's lacrosse team narrowly went in the opposition's favor as the Highlanders closed out their non-conference schedule with an 8-7 loss to the Manhattan Jaspers Saturday afternoon on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium. HIGHLIGHTS Colton Johnson and Eric Sherman led the Highlanders (1-6) as the duo each recorded two goals and an assist on the day. NJIT's scoring was rounded out by a goal each from Johnny Madaras, Gavyn Willson, and Owen Corry. Keegan Ford and Collin Fogerty also added assists for the Highlanders. John Tachon led all players with a season-high nine ground balls - three off his career high (12 at Wagner, Mar. 24, 2018) and four from tying the school record (13 by Zachary Melillo vs UMass Lowell, Mar. 7, 2015). Tachon also forced a pair of Jasper turnovers. Piers McGinn made his first career start in goal for NJIT. The freshman nearly matched his season best save total of six (at Army, Feb. 10), sending away five shots while playing all 60 minutes. 1ST QUARTER NJIT held a 2-0 advantage before the halfway point of the first quarter. Sherman scored the Highlanders' first goal (11:36) off a dish from Fogerty and Johnson scored on his own about two and a half minutes later (9:04). Manhattan cut the lead in half at the 4:44 mark with their own unassisted goal. After another Sherman shot was saved, Ryan Kaden corralled the resulting ground ball and passed it to Ford, who set up Willson and gave NJIT a 3-1 lead (1:18). 2ND QUARTER Scoring slowed down in the second but NJIT was able to strike first. A failed Manhattan clear led to a successful clear for NJIT and Madaras' goal from Johnson (13:13). The Jaspers would score the final goal of the half at the 10:53 mark, sending NJIT into the half with a 4-2 edge. 3RD QUARTER A total of 13:17 of game action would pass between Manhattan's second quarter goal and the next score of the game. Fortunately, that goal came from the stick of Johnson, who once again converted an unassisted shot to put NJIT ahead 5-2 (2:24) Manhattan answered less than a minute later (1:32) to cut NJIT's lead to 5-3 and turnover to transition goal with two seconds left in the period trimmed the score to 5-4 heading into the fourth. 4TH QUARTER Manhattan scored the first two goals of the period (11:03 and 9:44), bringing their scoring run to fourth straight and turning NJIT's 5-2 lead into a 6-5 deficit. Sherman stepped up to return the lead to the Highlanders. In a span of 1:05, Sherman would tie the game on a solo goal (7:33) and set up Corry (6:28) for the go-ahead score (7-6). In the end, Manhattan rallied once more, tying the game again with 3:32 left and converting an NJIT turnover into the game-winner with 1:10 to go. NEXT UP NJIT will open its first-ever Northeast Conference schedule and close its four-game homestand by hosting LIU on Saturday, March 14 at Noon.