Box Score Video: Mullins Eight Goals

Ann Arbor, Mich. - Freshman Kieran Mullins produced a career-high eight goals and senior Connor Murphy added a hat trick of his own as No. 12 Rutgers men's lacrosse earned a 14-7 road victory over Michigan Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor. The result was the first Big Ten Conference win of the season for the Scarlet Knights as they move to 9-2 on the year.

Mullin's eight goals were the most in a game for RU this season, as the rookie produced four scores in both halves. It was the sixth time the Islip, New York, native had three or more goals in a game this year, a team-high. Murphy contributed his second hat trick of the season, while junior Jules Heningburg, redshirt sophomore Casey Rose and Christian Mazzone each contributed one goal for Rutgers. Henningburg led the team in assists with five helpers.

"Great focus and our solid week of practice were responsible for today's success,' said head coach Brian Brecht. "We practiced well, we prepared well, we travelled well and we played together in every phase of the game. I'm proud of our leadership out there and how we bounced back today on the road for this Big Ten win."

Junior Joe Francisco was 19-22 on faceoffs with a team-high nine groundballs. Junior Michael Rexrode and senior Chris Groel each contributed four ground balls in the win, and Rose and Austin Divitcos each caused two turnovers. Between the pipes, Max Edelmann added nine saves and allowed just seven or fewer goals for the fourth time in 2017.

Mullins opened the contest with back-to-back goals, which included a score off a feed from Murphy to make it 2-0 Scarlet Knights with 9:07 left in the first quarter. Michigan responded with a goal from Brent Noseworthy, late in the quarter to make it just a 2-1 game at the end of one.

From there, RU's offense opened up courtesy of a 5-0 scoring run in the second quarter. Heningburg converted an unassisted goal to begin the run, while Mullins and Murphy each had two goals to give Rutgers a 7-1 advantage at the half.

The Scarlet Knights outscored the Wolverines, 6-2, in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Mullns had four scores in the third stanza, with his eighth of the day off an assist from Heningburg giving RU a comfortable 13-3 advantage at the 6:12 mark in the third quarter. Michigan added three late scores in the fourth quarter, but Rutgers held on for its first conference win of the season.

Rutgers returns to action on Sunday, April 16, when it hosts No. 6 Maryland at 7 p.m. in Piscataway.

Game Notes
• Kieran Mullins' eight goals were a career-high for the freshman, who previously produced four scores in a game three times this season. It was just the ninth time in program history that a Scarlet Knight has scored eight or more times in a game, and the most since Jules Heningburg and Adam Charalambides had six last season.
• Mullin's eight points were the most in a game for a RU player this season.
• Joe Francisco added a season-high 19 faceoff victories in the win.
• With his five assists, Heningburg now has 20 helpers on the season. For his career, Heningburg now has 49 assists.

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