St. John’s Falls to NJIT in Season Opener, 17-10

Sunday, February 8

Flanders, N.J. (Mount Olive High School)

5 p.m.

St. John's University

0-1

NJIT

2-0

NJIT

St. John's (N.Y.)

2/8/2026 8:41:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Red Storm will be back in action on Saturday to face Delaware

FLANDERS, N.J. — The St. John's lacrosse team (0-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) fell in its season opener on Sunday evening to NJIT (2-0, 0-0 America East), 17-10.

The Red Storm and Highlanders were neck-and-neck In the first half as the opening two quarters featured four ties and five lead changes. The Highlanders pulled away in the second half at Mount Olive High School in Flanders, N.J.

Noah Plenn led the way in his St. John's debut tallying a team-high three goals, four assists and seven points. Adrian Nowak finished with two goals, two assists and nine shots. Fellow upperclassmen Jake Wright went for two goals and a helper. Ryan Ormond added a pair of goals to start his sophomore campaign. Jayson Cardenas was the sixth Johnnie to find the back of the net adding a goal during the third quarter.

Matt Nelson recorded 13 saves between the pipes in the Garden State.

Red Storm went 3-for-3 on the extra-man advantage capitalizing on all three man-up opportunities.

As the season got underway, Plenn fired one home for his first goal in a St. John's uniform and the Red Storm's inaugural tally of the season to jump in front, 1-0, at the 11:09 mark. After the Highlanders knotted the score, the Johnnies capitalized on the man-up advantage. Ryan Ormond sniped home his first of the season off the assist from Plenn. The Red Storm racked up its second powerplay goal in a 1:31 span as Wright got on the board off the dish Nowak to take a 3-1 edge with just under four minutes to go in the frame. NJIT tallied the last two goals of the opening quarter to tie the score, 3-3, after 15 minutes.

The Highlanders took their first lead of the evening early in the second stanza, 4-3, the Johnnies responded in a back-and-forth affair inside the bubble. Plenn notched his second of the night to tie the game for a fourth time, 4-4. Brody Hergott logged his first collegiate point on the tally. Plenn, the Delaware transfer continued his hot start contributing points of four of the Johnnies' first five goals. The redshirt freshman found Ormond to push St. John's ahead, 5-4, with 8:28 remaining in the half. The Highlanders scored the final three goals of the opening half to take a 7-5 lead at the break.

As the second half got underway, neither team scored for the first five minutes of the third quarter. After NJIT stretched its lead to three, Jayson Cardenas tucked home the first Red Storm goal finishing a pass from Jack McCormak, 8-6, at the 8:09 mark. Wright tallied a man-up goal, the Johnnies third of the game to pull within three, 11-8, with three minutes left in the third. The Highlanders were next on the board before Nowak tallied his second of the frame to close the third quarter scoring with NJIT leading, 12-9, after 45 minutes of action.

The Highlanders scored the first four goals of the final frame to stretch their lead to seven, with 6:50 remaining, 16-9. Plenn broke up the NJIT run with his fourth tally of the night off a feed from Wright, 16-10. NJIT added the final goal of the night on Super Bowl Sunday, 17-10

St. John's will be back in action on Valentine's Day when it hosts Delaware at Cox Family Field at Belson Stadium. First face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.