WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – The Monmouth University men's lacrosse team opened its 2020 season with a wire-to-wire victory over NJIT on Saturday afternoon at Kessler Stadium.

The Hawks used a balanced offensive attack with four different two-goal scorers and led by as many as six in the 11-8 win. Cade Stratton, Brock Anderson, Mike McIntyre and David Cormack each scored twice to lead Monmouth offensively, Dylan Smart picked up eight ground balls and Noah Lode totaled 12 saves in net.

Monmouth built a 3-0 lead after the opening 15 minutes and went into halftime with a 5-2 advantage. The lead ballooned to 9-3 by the end of the third quarter and 11-5 with 6:15 remaining before NJIT put in the game's final three goals.

NOTES & QUOTES
"It was really good to see our guys persevere through some tough times and get a win. NJIT Coach Travis Johnson is a good friend of mine and a really good coach and they put pressure on us in some different areas of the game. You never know what you're going to get in the first game of a season, we had to make some adjustments and I'm really happy for our guys to earn a victory on opening day at home."
- Head Coach Brian Fisher

"We don't like to play selfish lacrosse so it is really important to have different guys step up when their number is called. We played hot-and-cold throughout today's game, but Noah Lode stepped up big and bailed us out a number of times. He was tremendous in goal for us. It is always great to defend our home turf and pick up our first win at Kessler Stadium in 2020."
- Junior Captain Chris Hervada

- Monmouth moved to 5-1 all-time against NJIT, including 3-0 at home against the Highlanders.
- Monmouth improved to 3-4 all-time in season-opening games.
- It was Monmouth's second home-opening win in program history.
- Monmouth has won three straight home games and four consecutive games at Kessler Stadium, dating back to last season.
- Sophomore Mike McIntyre made his first-career start on attack.
- The Hawks wore their blue chrome helmets with white jerseys and shorts.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
- Dillon Smart picked up a career-high eight ground balls, equaled his career-high with three caused turnovers and registered his first-career assist.
- Noah Lode totaled 12 saves, including five in the third quarter.
- David Cormack scored twice, giving him five career goals, and contributed his first-career assist. His three points set a new career high.
- Cade Stratton put in two goals and added one assist. Stratton has 14 goals, five assists and 19 points in 12 career games. It was Stratton's fifth career multi-goal game.
- Brock Anderson recorded his fifth-career multi-goal game and he now has 16 goals in his career.
- Mike McIntyre scored the first two goals of his career.
- Eamon Campbell scored once and added an assist, giving him 67 career points. He passed Dylan Schulte '18 and moved into fifth on Monmouth's all-time points list. He is alone in third with 28 career assists after breaking a tie with Chris Daly '17.
- Anthony Sardo scored his 25^th career goal and registered his 30^th career point with a goal and an assist in the win.
- Ethan Masucci scored his third-career goal.
- Freshman Matt Soutar collected six ground balls and was 7-for-13 at the faceoff X in his debut.
- Ian Weinberg was 5-for-9 on faceoffs in the game.
- Scooter Whiteside tied his career high with five ground balls and set a new career high with two caused turnovers.

UP NEXT
Monmouth's first road test comes next Saturday, February 15, when the team travels to Princeton for a 1 p.m. faceoff.