PISCATAWAY, N.J. – After a long offseason, No. 17 Rutgers men's lacrosse made a big statement in its opening game of the season, downing No. 6 Penn State by an 11-9 final score to claim the Friendship Cup.
"It was great for our team to be able to return to the field," head coach
Brian Brecht said. "They put a lot of time, commitment and training into being able to compete on game day. Our senior class, our captains, and our whole team was very motivated to be ready for this moment, and they captured it today."
A pair of transfers and New Jersey natives made a big impact in their first game in a Scarlet Knights' uniform.
Connor Kirst led the way with three goals and four assists for a game-high seven points, while his brother
Colin Kirst made 15 saves to backstop Rutgers to the victory.
Adam Charalambides provided a hat trick of his own, while freshman
Shane Knobloch had two goals in his debut.
Kieran Mullins,
Ross Scott and
David Sprock all tallied once in the game.
Rutgers outshot Penn State, 40-39, and held the advantage in ground balls, 31-29. The home team was 20-of-21 on clears and pressured the visitors to commit 12 turnovers. Rutgers won 6-of-7 faceoffs in the fourth quarter, which helped seal the victory.
On the defensive end, Garrett Bullet and
Bobby Russo each caused two turnovers. Impressively, the defense held Penn State's returning All-American attackman, Mac O'Keefe, to just one goal.
"
Connor Kirst was a great addition for us, and with
Adam Charalambides and
Kieran Mullins, that attack group is very talented," Brecht explained. "We practiced well all preseason, the team was focused, sharp mentally and physically and that showed today."
The game was very even throughout with teams alternating goals and runs. After an early three-goal run, RU led 4-3. At halftime, that lead had expanded to 6-5.
Penn State came back with the next two goals to take the lead at 7-6, but that would be their last advantage of the day. In the waning seconds of the third quarter,
Connor Kirst fired in a goal to tie things at 7-7. The game was then evened again at 8-8, coming down to the final seven minutes of action.
Charalmbides tallied to put RU ahead 9-8 and
Ross Scott added a marker for a two-goal advantage with 5:35 to play. PSU had one last push with a goal to get back within one, but Charalambides scored again in the final minute to put the game out of reach.
"This was a very special day,"
Connor Kirst said. "Seeing my brother in the locker room, knowing how much we love this place. It was emotional in the locker room with Colin. Just a great day, a special experience that I'll never forget. To start off like this was awesome. It was a long time coming, finally getting to play someone else. We were able to put it together and get the win. It was great to be out there with my teammates in a real game situation. We'll keep getting better as the year goes on since every game in this league is going to be a tough game."
Next up for Rutgers is a trip to No. 10 Ohio State. That game will be next Saturday afternoon.
Postgame Notes
- The Scarlet Knights earned their 10th win over a top-10 team in program history.
- It was their ninth win against a ranked Big Ten foe since joining the league.
- This marked their third highest ranked win against a Big Ten foe (previously vs. No. 3 Ohio State in 2017 and No. 4 Ohio State in 2019).
- This was the highest ranked Penn State team RU ever defeated.
- It marked the sixth highest ranked win earned in program history (RU previously had five top-five victories).
- This marked the 44th win all-time against Penn State, the most victories for the Scarlet Knights against any one program.
- Kieran Mullins' goal was the 100th of his career. He moves into 10th place all-time at Rutgers.
- Keyed by a matchup with Bobby Russo, Penn State's returning two-time All-American attackman Mac O'Keefe, who averaged four goals per game last season, was held to just one goal.
- It was only the second time over the past three seasons that O'Keefe did not have multiple goals in a game.
- Last season, Penn State averaged 17.3 goals per game and Rutgers defense held them to 9 goals. It was the first time PSU had been held to a single-digit goal output since the 2018 season, a span of 25 games.
Gallery: (2-25-2021) Men's Lacrosse Defeats Penn State
