PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 20 Rutgers men's lacrosse concluded its season in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals with an 18-6 loss to No. 1 Penn State. The Scarlet Knights were led by three goals from Ryan Gallagher. Adam Charalambides scored twice while Kyle Pless had his first collegiate goal. Max Edelmann made 13 saves.

Penn State held a 44-42 advantage in shots and 45-26 in ground balls. The Nittany Lions won 15-of-25 faceoffs and had five man-up goals.

HOW IT HAPPENED:  

Penn State scored the first two goals of the game, but Rutgers came back with the next two off the sticks of Charalambides and Gallagher. However, the Nittany Lions came back to stretch their lead to 8-2 as Rutgers experienced a scoring drought heading into halftime.

Ryan Gallagher opened the scoring for Rutgers in the third quarter with a spin move that led to an open shot and a goal. The Nittany Lions then extended their lead to 15-3. Rutgers and Penn State traded goals down the stretch to establish the final margin.

NOTABLE:  

• Adam Charalmbides scored two goals, giving him 47 for the season. That placed him third all-time on Rutgers' single-season list.
• He led the team with 61 points.
• Kieran Mullins finished the season with 37 assists, tying for eighth all-time on Rutgers' single-season list.
• Max Edelmann made 13 saves, giving him 507 for his career. He became the 8^th person in program history to reach the 500-save plateau.
• Ryan Gallagher led the team with three goals, his third hat trick of the season. He had seven multi-goal games in the last nine contests of the season.
• Gallagher was named to the All-Tournament Team. 

QUOTABLE:  
"I've gained a lot over my time here, especially in the relationships that I've built. Coming back for this season has been a blessing. When I first stepped back on campus, I took an assessment of my play last season and really took that to heart with what I could do this season to be a better player. And I think I have played better, but it's always a total team effort. Whether it is me commanding the defense and holding them and myself accountable, there's always going to be faults. But I can't say enough good things about my overall experience here. With the guidance from Coach Brecht, the professional networking, the education here, it's been an amazing experience. I can't thank the entire administration enough for the past four years and setting me up for success for the rest of my life. It was life-changing for me coming to Rutgers. It was a difficult transition for me coming from a small junior college in Baltimore. I was welcomed with open arms and have never been inside such a tight community that our lacrosse team is. Being in that environment has helped me become a better person, a better athlete and a better student, so I can't say thank you enough to everyone."

• Goalkeeper Max Edelmann

 "Our team was a bit of a work in progress all season. I think we were certainly a better team at the end of the year than where we started. The leadership of our captains helped us develop towards the end of the year. Even though we were playing some of our best lacrosse of the season coming into this game, we didn't play our best today. There's no guarantees when you step on that field. We always want to be the best that we can possibly be. We want to compete for Big Ten championships and NCAA berths, that's certainly our goal. We lost 11 impact players on game day from last year's team to graduation, so we had a newer team this year than we've had in the last three seasons. We upgraded our schedule and we still were here in the postseason competing in the Big Ten Tournament tonight. Our expectations are to play in the month of May and play in the postseason. We'll continue to attract and develop high-end student-athletes that are going to have great careers here with a lot of success."

• Head Coach Brian Brecht

1 of 7 stops for @RUmlax's @atonofmax94 in the first half. pic.twitter.com/Chna0AEorB

— Rutgers On BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) May 2, 2019

 
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