BALTIMORE, Md. – Redshirt senior
Kieran Mullins led a fourth-quarter offensive attack that propelled No. 6 Rutgers men's lacrosse past No. 14 Johns Hopkins by a score of 15-9 on Saturday afternoon. With the game tied after three quarters, the Scarlet Knights outscored the Blue Jays 7-1 in the fourth quarter to improve to 4-1 on the season.
"I'm proud of our guys," said head coach
Brian Brecht. "We were excited to play today, we got into a bit of a hole, but I was very proud of how they answered the bell. They did a great job of answering the bell and did a great job playing together. We have a great senior class. They wanted to redeem themselves after the loss to Maryland and wanted to get this one. If we play together like that, we'll be fun to watch no doubt."
Mullins spearheaded the Rutgers offense with a game-high five goals, adding three assists. JHU held a two-point lead at the end of the second quarter, outpacing the Scarlet Knights 7-5. Mullins scored back-to-back goals to start the third quarter to tie the game at 7-7.
"A big part of our offense is transition," said Mullins. "That rope unit and our defense pushing transition helped start our offense and was a big part of the win. Our first half offensively we didn't play very well, but then we started to get a spark to have a big second half."
The Scarlet Knights would go on an 8-2 scoring drive over the final 20 minutes of the contest, including the five-straight in the last 11 minutes to pull away from the Blue Jays and secure the victory.
Adam Charalambides and
Connor Kirst added three goals apiece in the contest, with Charalambides chipping in two assists, while
Connor Kirst added an assist of his own. Rutgers received another multiple-goal performance from
Shane Knobloch, who scored two goals to help lead the Scarlet Knights' offensive production.
Rutgers outshot Johns Hopkins 46-31. Goalkeeper
Colin Kirst picked up the win, recording 12 saves. The Scarlet Knights forced JHU into 18 turnovers, the second-most for an opponent this season. Sophomore
Jonathan Dugenio and senior
Zach Masessa tied with a game-high five caused turnovers.
"Give a lot of credit to our defensive guys, they did a great job," said Brecht. "Our rope unit has been great, we've asked them to sink their teeth in on the defensive end and they've done that. When they are playing together and sharing the ball, that's been great to watch. It works better when everyone is playing cohesively, we're more talented collectively when we're playing together as a whole."
The game Johns Hopkins wraps the Scarlet Knights' first trip through the league schedule, as they have faced all five league foes. The team will have one more scheduled matchup with each conference team, with the home and away designations flipped.
"I'm happy to be 4-1 halfway through," said Brecht. "We can certainly learn from some of our mistakes without taking a loss. We'll continue to clean things up and get better, but it's much better doing so after a win. We're looking forward to doing that Monday as we get ready for the second half of the league schedule."
The Scarlet Knights will return to action on Sunday March 28 for a home matchup against No. 3 Maryland which will be televised on ESPNU. Chris Cotter and Paul Carcaterra will be on the call.
Postgame Notes
- The victory over Johns Hopkins was the team's first since 2016, when RU defeated the Blue Jays twice that season.
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Kieran Mullins moved into third all-time at Rutgers with 206 career points. He is one point shy of tying Jules Heningburg for second place.
- Mullins sits eighth all-time at Rutgers with 94 assists.
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Adam Charalambides moved into a tie with Scott Klimchak for sixth all-time at Rutgers with 124 career goals.
- Mullins had season-highs in goals and assists.
- Rutgers finishes the first half of the Big Ten schedule in second place at 4-1.
