WATCH / LIVE STATS I GAME NOTES
Madison, NJ - The Wagner men's lacrosse team will play its final non-conference game of the season when they meet the NJIT Highlanders on Saturday, March 25 at 7:00 p.m. in a game that will be held at Drew University's Rangers Stadium.
Due to renovations on the NJIT campus, the Highlanders are playing their home games on the Drew University campus. this season.
The matchup between the Seahawks and the Highlanders is of two night games that Wagner will play this season. On Friday, April 28, the Green & White will host Sacred Heart in the regular season finale under the lights at Hameline Field.
All-Time Series (Wagner Leads, 2-0)
March 28, 2015: Wagner 7, NJIT 2 (Newark, NJ)
March 26, 2016: Wagner 10, NJIT 8 (Staten Island, NY)
Wagner is under the direction of sixth-year head coach
Matt Poskay, a former All-American at the University of Virginia before embarking on an All-Star Major Lacrosse League career. The Seahawks, who won a program-record six games in 2016, enter this weekend's play at 4-5 on the season and with an 0-1 mark in Northeast Conference (NEC) play, having dropped their league opener, 17-5, last Saturday at Hobart.
Earlier this season, Wagner won a program-tying three consecutive games, with the wins coming over Dartmouth, VMI and Hampton.
Junior attackman
Andrew Streilein (Lenape, NJ / Mt. Laurel) leads the Seahawks in scoring with 21 points on 13 goals and eight assists. The 13 goals lead the team and are one better than junior midfielder
Joe Lomeli (Clark, NJ / A.L. Johnson), a transfer from NJIT, who checks in with 16 points on 12 goals and four assists.
As a sophomore at NJIT in 2016, Lomeli set NJIT men's lacrosse program record for goals in a game (4) (since broken) against Vermont (2/16) en route to leading the team in goals (17) and ranking second in points (19). In the Highlanders' 10-8 loss at Wagner (3/26), Lomeli tallied a pair of goals. Wagner has a second transfer on its roster in sophomore midfielder
Matt Cechini who is sitting out the 2017 season.
Seahawk freshman attackman Nick Ancona (Warrenton, VA / Paul VI) has totaled 16 points (10g, 6a), while fifth-year senior midfielder
Paul DeVita (Westfield, NJ / Westfield) and freshman attackman Dominick Branda (Ringwood, NJ / Don Bosco Prep) have tallied 13 points apiece. DeVita's 13 points have come on 10 goals and three assists while Branda's 13 points this season have come on eight goals and five assists.
Sophomore
Matt Sefcik (Towaco, NJ / Morristown Beard) has made 102 saves and allowed 81 goals for a 9.87 GAA. To go with a .5557 save percentage, both of which are tops in the NEC.
Junior midfielder
Nick Warren (Granby, CT / Granby Memorial / Mount St. Mary's) and senior midfielder
Anthony Labetti (Moorestown, NJ / Moorestown) split time at the faceoff X for Wagner. Warren is 36-of-80 for a 45.0 winning percentage while Labetti is 34-of-89 for a 38.2. Athletic junior defender
Andrew Park (Kinnelon, NJ / Kinnelon) leads the Green & White in groundballs (29), which ranked fifth in the NEC, and caused turnovers (20).
NJIT, which is in its third season as a Division I men's lacrosse program, is 0-9 on the season. On March 17, however, the Highlanders through a huge scare into undefeated Rutgers before falling by a 10-6 count behind a school-record five-goal outing by sophomore attackman Aaron Forster. Hanging tough with the Scarlet Knights should be a confidence booster for head coach Travis Johnson as the Scarlet Knights are ranked No. 1 in the nation in this week's
Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
Following the NJIT game, Wagner embarks on a regular season-ending stretch of five NEC contests, beginning with a home meeting with Bryant on Saturday, April 1. Faceoff between the Seahawks and the Highlanders at Hameline Field is set for 1:00 p.m.
