STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – No. 7 Rutgers men's lacrosse dominated from start to finish in a complete performance at Penn State, downing the Nittany Lions by a 22-10 final margin on Saturday at Panzer Stadium. The 12-goal margin of victory was the team's largest ever in a Big Ten game. The victory was Rutgers' sixth win of the season, guaranteeing RU top-2 finish in the Big Ten standings, which clinches a bye in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Connor Kirst led the team with seven points on four goals and three assists, also adding seven ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Adam Charalambides and
Kieran Mullins each shared the game-high with five goals. Rutgers also received goals from
David Sprock,
Ryan Gallagher,
Bobby Russo,
Brennan Kamish,
Tommy Coyne,
Ross Scott,
Eric Civetti and
Ethan Rall.
Colin Kirst made 12 saves for the Scarlet Knights in the cage while collecting five ground balls.
RU outshot Penn State an outstanding 75-36, while holding a 48-39 advantage in ground balls. RU forced Penn State into 23 turnovers, led by four caused turnovers by
Zach Masessa. It was the most goals that Penn State had surrendered in a game since 2010.
The Scarlet Knights took command from the outset and had a dominating performance in the opening half.
Ryan Gallagher scored 69 seconds into the game, and Rutgers never relinquished the lead. PSU got as close at 2-1 after three minutes of action. The Scarlet Knights then responded with a nine-goal scoring run, holding the Nittany Lions scoreless for 26 minutes to balloon their lead to double-digits. In the waning second of the half,
Connor Kirst fired one in from long range to beat the horn, and the visitors held a 12-3 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Rutgers continued to pull away. The team led by as much as 21-7 before finishing off a 22-10 final margin.
The Scarlet Knights will return home next weekend to host John Hopkins Saturday at 5 p.m. That game is Senior Day, as well as Alumni Appreciation Day. Limited-capacity tickets for that contest are available
online.
Postgame Notes
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Kieran Mullins ties his season-high in goals.
- Mullins now has 118 career goals, passing Jules Heningburg to move into eighth all-time in Rutgers history.
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Adam Charalambides ties his season-high in goals.
- Charalambides now has 134 career goals, tying Mike Rinck for fourth all-time in Rutgers' history .
- Charalambides now has 179 career points, passing Greg Rinaldi for 10th all-time in Rutgers' history.
- Charalambides, named a Midseason All-American by the media this week, leads the team on the season with 29 goals and 39 points.
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Connor Kirst tied his career a season-high with seven points.
- Rutgers now leads the all-time series 45-24, earning their second win of the season over Penn State.
- It was the second opponent this year that RU swept home-and-home in the regular season (also doing so versus Ohio State)
- It was the third time this season RU has scored 22 goals.
- it was the largest margin of victory for Rutgers since a 17-4 win over Stony Brook in 2017.
- Since Rutgers joined the ECAC in 2000, it was the largest margin of victory for RU in a conference game.
- It marked the third time this season that RU scored 22 goals and defeated a Big Ten team by double-digits (22-12 wins previously over Ohio State and Penn State)
Postgame Quotes
"It thought we had a great week of practice preparing for this game. I was very proud of that. I was happy with the whole effort, they came ready to go. From the defensive effort to team playing with a lot of energy and juice.
Bobby Russo was outstanding, he blanketed Mac O'Keefe all day.
Ethan Rall was outstanding, he's so slick and savvy. Our attack had a great game, I think very highly of them, what a complete offensive performance from them, both in six-on-six offense and transition. We were really able to put it all together. I'm really proud of how they've handled things. I like this group a lot and how they go about things. Give them credit, they are figuring things out, working hard, understanding their opponents. I thought it was probably one of the most complete performances that I've been a part of."
- Head Coach
Brian Brecht
"It was a complete effort from everyone. It starts with
Colin Kirst in goal, he was on fire today, so that gave us a lot of possessions. We had a great week of preparation and that shows on Saturday. As an offense, we're starting to understand each others tendencies. You are starting to see everyone gel together and share the ball well, which is great. We have great focus all across the board and being diligent with our process. It's a team effort all week that allows to be successful on the weekends.
-
Adam Charalambides
