For the better part of four months, many of us watched some exciting college lacrosse, whether it was on TV, online, or in person. There were good games, which included all of Championship Weekend, and there were bad games, such as low scoring affairs and of course, the horrendous winter weather. I take a look back at all 69 Division I teams and how they fared this season and what to look forward to in 2016.
COMPARING 2014 AND 2015 IN NUMBERS
| 2014 Record | NA |
| 2014 Conference Record | NA |
| 2014 Scoring Offense | NA |
| 2014 Scoring Defense | NA |
| 2014 Goals Leader | NA |
| 2014 Assists Leader | NA |
| 2014 Points Leader | NA |
| 2014 Goaltending Leader | NA |
| 2014 Face-Off Leader | NA |
| 2014 Ground Balls Leader | NA |
| 2014 Caused Turnovers Leader | NA |
| 2014 Quality Wins | NA |
| 2014 Bad Losses | NA |
| 2015 Record | 0-12 |
| 2015 Conference Record | NA |
| 2015 Scoring Offense | 4.50 Goals Per Game (Last in DI) |
| 2015 Scoring Defense | 13.25 Goals Allowed Per Game (65th in DI) |
| 2015 Goals Leader | #92 Joe Lomeli – Freshman (19 Gs) |
| 2015 Assists Leader | #29 John Roach – Freshman (7 As) |
| 2015 Points Leader | #92 Joe Lomeli – Freshman (21 Pts) |
| 2015 Goaltending Leader | #33 Nick Marzullo – Freshman (.474 SV %) |
| 2015 Face-Off Leader | #26 Zachary Melillo – Freshman (.454 FO%) |
| 2015 Ground Balls Leader | #26 Zachary Melillo – Freshman (58 GBs) |
| 2015 Caused Turnovers Leader | #28 Rich Brunje – Freshman (8 CTs) |
| 2015 Quality Wins | None |
| 2015 Bad Losses | UMass Lowell (9-7), Manhattan (7-5) |
YEAR IN REVIEW
The Highlanders of NJIT experienced first year pains, something that nearby Monmouth experienced in 2014. They went winless in 12 games played this season with a team of 22 freshmen out of 24 total players (one sophomore, one senior).
They played their first game in program history on February 20th as they fell on the road to Stony Brook 18-4. They lost in their first home game eight days later to Quinnipiac 10-3. In their first good chance to record a win, they fell to fellow first year program UMass Lowell 9-7 at home, followed ten days later with a 6-3 home loss to fellow New Jersey school Monmouth. Fast forward to March 31, where NJIT played a tough game against Manhattan, who was also looking for their first win on the season. The Jaspers jumped out to a 5-2 lead after the first quarter, and eventually won 7-5. In their final game against Dartmouth, they fell to the Big Green 7-5.
Although the Highlanders failed to win a game this season, the players got experience playing against multiple Division I teams. The leading scorer, Joe Lomeli, started only one game, which was the last game of the season against Dartmouth, but he looks like to be the program’s first budding star. They have a great coach in Travis Johnson who has been at Stony Brook, Penn State, and most recently Mount St. Mary’s. This team can only go up from here, just look at Monmouth.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2016
| NAME | POSITION | HIGH SCHOOL |
| Cameron Cronk | Goaltender | Eastside Catholic (WA) |
| Chris Delente | Midfield | St. John’s Prep (MD) |
| Carson Metzker | Midfield/FO | Germantown Academy (PA) |
| Jack Mazurek | Midfield/FO | Don Bosco Prep (NJ) |
| Darren Almodiel | LSM | Chantilly (VA) |
| Jacob Sieber | Attack/Midfield | North Hunterdon (NJ) |
| Davis Carr | Midfield/Attack | Manheim Township (PA) |
| Sean Bannon | Defense/LSM | Pascack Hills (NJ) |
| Shane Kenney | LSM/Defense | Gloucester Catholic (NJ) |
| Tyler Stevenson | Midfield/FO | Rutgers Prep (NJ) |
| Grant Toller | Midfield | Holy Ghost Prep (PA) |
As of now, NJIT has nearly everybody coming back for 2016, along with 11 incoming freshmen, to expand the roster to 34 players. More legs could mean better competition for playing time and more depth, which could lead NJIT to their first win in program history. There is also no official news about conference affiliation for next season, but as the school recently announced that they would join the Atlantic Sun, which includes Jacksonville and an associate membership with the Southern Conference for lacrosse, it looks like the Highlanders will join the SoCon in time for 2016.
