Rutgers Men's Lacrosse Wins Key Game at Georgetown
Apr 26 | Men's Lacrosse
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 26, 2014) - With the help of eight goals from seniors, the Rutgers men's lacrosse team downed Georgetown, 12-8, in Washington, D.C., Saturday. The win secured the Scarlet Knights a spot as the No. 4 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament. It marked the first win over the Hoyas in program history.
RU finished the regular season 8-7, with a 3-3 mark in the BIG EAST. Georgetown concluded its season at 4-10 and 1-5 in league play. Sophomore GK Jake Andersen (Flemington, N.J.) made a career-high 15 saves, while the Scarlet Knights led the Hoyas, 32-29, in ground balls. Sophomore A Scott Bieda (Bridgewater, N.J.) led Rutgers with two goals and three assists.
Senior D Nick Contino (Branchburg, N.J.) got Rutgers on the board first, grabbing a rebound in front of the cage after a fast break transition attempt and scoring on an underhand shot just one minute in. At the 12:10 mark in the first quarter, redshirt senior M Anthony Terranova (Flemington, N.J.) put the Scarlet Knights up 2-0 with a goal of his own.
Following a Georgetown score, senior M Nicholas DePaolera (Kinnelon, N.J.) extended Rutgers' lead back to two with an unassisted score at the 7:12 mark. The Hoyas tallied another score before senior M Steve DiGiovanni (Cranford, N.J.) worked to just outside of the crease before slinging one past the GU goalkeeper. Rutgers led 4-2 at the end of the first quarter.
The Scarlet Knights opened up the second quarter with three straight scores. First, with 13:15 to go in the half as freshman A Christian Trasolini (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) found Terranova streaking towards the cage. Terranova corralled it just outside the crease and recorded the goal. Then, Trasolini found Bieda, before junior M Brian Goss (Arlington Heights, Ill.) extended RU's lead to 7-2 at the 9:20 mark in the second quarter.
After a Georgetown goal, Bieda assisted both DiGiovanni and Terranova, extending Rutgers' advantage to 9-3 with 5:10 remaining before the break and held it at the midpoint.
Coming out of the half, redshirt senior A Scott Klimchak (Clark, N.J.) opened up the scoring just 41 seconds in. The Hoyas notched the final two goals of the quarter and RU led 10-5 at the end of the third.
Georgetown scored three fourth-quarter goals, but Rutgers received scores from Bieda and Trasolini to secure the 12-8 victory.
With the win, Rutgers secured the No. 4 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament and will take on the No. 1 seed Denver in a semifinal matchup on Thursday, May 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Villanova, Pa.
The BIG EAST Championship, which consists of the top four teams in the conference from the regular-season standings, will be played at Villanova University on May 1 and 3. The two semifinal matchups will take place on Thursday, May 1 and the title game on Saturday, May 3. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for youths for each day. Fans can save money by purchasing a Championship Package that includes tickets to all three games for the flat fees of $16 for adults and $8 for youths. Fans can purchase tickets by clicking here.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The Scarlet Knights picked up their first-ever win over Georgetown in their 17th all-time matchup with the Hoyas.
- RU posted its first winning regular season (8-7) since the 2007 team went 7-6.
- With eight wins, Rutgers has tallied its most since the 2004 team went 8-6.
- Rutgers has totaled three BIG EAST wins this season, it's most in a year since joining the conference in 2010. That season, the Scarlet Knights won two league games.
- Rutgers secured its spot as the No. 4 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament, its first postseason appearance since 2004.
- The 187 goals for RU through the first 15 games of the season are the most for the squad through the first 15 contests since the 1998 team posted 200.
- With 12 goals, RU has scored in double figures for the 12th time this season.
- Anthony Terranova had a hat trick with three goals.
- Jake Andersen made a career-high 15 saves. His previous best was 11 at Duke on April 19, 2014.
- Nick Contino scored his second career goal in the contest. His first was vs. Monmouth on March 8, 2014.
- Contino collected a career-high six ground balls. His previous high was four, which he had done three times.
- Steve DiGiovanni tied his career high with two goals. He has done it two other times, most recently at St. John's on March 16, 2013.
- Scott Bieda tied his career high in assists with three. He has done it two other times, most recently vs. St. John's on April 2, 2014.
- Sophomore D Zack Sikora (Clifton, Va.) collected a career-high six ground balls. His previous best was three, which he had done twice.
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers men's lacrosse, follow the program and Brecht on Twitter (@RUMLax and @RUlaxCoach) and Facebook. Fans can receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on our social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.
