It only cost teams a conference title last year, but this season the stakes are higher because the Knickerbocker champion gets an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
"That's a poor criteria to decide a champion," Rizk said. "We're not trying to run up the score on anybody, but now we have to pay attention to how things are going with other teams.
"You never want to run it up on somebody, especially if the other coach is a friend of yours. But this year, you can't afford not to. I don't like it."
The goal differential tiebreaker became even more important to Stockton (5-4) after the Ospreys dropped a 10-3 decision to Stevens on Wednesday night. That left Stevens 3-0 in league play, while Stockton dropped to 3-1.
"You're not going to do better than tie with one loss," Rizk said. "So we'll need some help and we have to score some goals."
Rory McPeek, Stockton's all-time leading scorer, graduated last year. The offense has been helped, though, by freshmen David Rowbotham and Peter Duca and junior Marc McKinney. Sophomore Mike Sclafani scored a school-record nine goals Monday in a 22-3 win over Castleton (Vt.).
Three South Jersey products have also made an impact - senior Eric Guerin (Shawnee) and sophomores Jim Dunn and Dan Chindemi, both from Cherokee.
"Eric has started since he's been here and is very dependable at long stick midfield," Rizk said. "Jim Dunn is mainly an assist man, but he can score some goals. Chindemi has been out with some injuries, but when he's healthy he plays a fair amount with our second line."
Dell hits 500. College of New Jersey baseball coach Rick Dell earned his 500th career victory Wednesday when the Lions captured a 6-2 win at Elizabethtown.
