MEN'S LACROSSE NOTEBOOK
 
After a season-long three-game road trip, the Vermont men's lacrosse team is back home for the first time in two weeks this Saturday to take on NJIT in the start of conference play.
 
Opening faceoff between the Cats and Highlanders is set for noon out at Virtue Field.
 
RELATED LINKS
AmericaEast.TV | Live Stats
 
LAST TIME OUT
Ryan Cornell made 17 saves and Michael McCormack scored four goals but the Cats couldn't climb out of an early hole in a 12-10 defeat at UMass on Wednesday. After falling behind 5-0 through 15 minutes of play, UVM chipped away the rest of the afternoon cutting the lead to as few as two on several occasions. Cornell's 17 saves were a career-high and he also finished with four ground balls.
 
WEEKLY HONORS
McConvey picked up another America East weekly award on Monday. He was named the league's offensive player of the week for the second straight week after scoring eight goals and adding an assist in UVM's two games last week. Against Providence, McConvey set a career-high with six goals. It was the second time in three games he's set a new career-high.
 
CATS IN THE RANKINGS
UVM finds itself in the thick of the national rankings in a number of categories as league play begins. The Cats rank ninth in the country in man-down defense killing penalties at a .762 clip and they rank 10^th in caused turnovers per game (10.43). Individually, Nick Alviti is ninth in the country in caused turnovers per game.
 
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
NJIT enters Saturday's conference opener with an 0-6 record and an 0-4 mark on the road in 2022. The Highlanders are paced on offense by 13 points apiece from Gage Adams (7G, 6A) and Gavyn Wilson (7G, 6A). Liam Brown has started all six games in cage for NJIT and comes into the weekend with a 15.07 GAA. Billy Kroeger has been solid at the faceoff X for America East's newest member winning draws at a .637 rate this season.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Saturday's meeting will be just the fourth all-time between the two teams with Vermont having won the previous three. Last season in Newark, Vermont put together one of its finest defensive outings in program history defeating NJIT 17-2. The Cats are averaging nearly 18 goals per game over the three all-time meetings. Vermont and NJIT have never played in Burlington.