ANN ARBOR, Michigan – No. 6 Rutgers men's lacrosse closed out the regular season on Sunday with a 13-12 win at Michigan. The victory gave RU an 8-2 record on the year. Connor Kirst led the way with 5 goals and one assist for a team-best six points. His brother Colin Kirst excelled in the cage, tying his career-high with 19 saves. Kieran Mullins had a hat trick with three goals for RU, joining Michael Sanguinetti (two goals) as the team's other multiple goal scorers. David Sprock, Brennan Kamish and Andrew Kim also tallied for RU. Adam Charalambides had a team-high three goals.

"Regardless of what the records are, the Big Ten is still the Big Ten, it's a top-two conference in men's lacrosse and a road game in the Big Ten is always going to be tough," head coach Brian Brecht said. "That was a great team win for us. We had a lot of different guys step up, which helps us build our depth. The defense did a great job, led by Colin Kirst in the goal, 19 saves in the Big Ten is huge, he was outstanding all day long. That defensive group played a lot and a great job. We had to have a high probability of success on all the offensive opportunities we had. Connor Kirst shot the ball really well, Kieran Mullins had a nice game, Michael Sanguinetti stepped up with two goals. We got better toad, and that will help us going forward."

Michigan held a 49-37 advantage in shots and 39-29 lead in ground balls. RU overcame that with Kirst's play in goal and seven caused turnovers from the team, led by three from Jaryd Jean-Felix.

Michigan jumped out to an early lead at 3-1. Michael Sanguinetti led the RU offense in the opening quarter, scoring twice in the frame including in the final seconds to make the score 3-2 after 15 minutes of action.

Rutgers got three straight tallies in the second quarter to jump out to a 5-3 lead. The Scarlet Knights used an excellent transition goal to start the streak, with Colin Kirst making a save and starting the early offense, the ball quickly getting to his brother for the game-tying tally. Connor Kirst then scored again just eight seconds later for a 4-3 lead, followed by a tough play in front from Kieran Mullins to gain possession and score for a 5-3 lead. Rutgers added goals from Brennan Kamish, David Sprock and Andrew Kim in the period, using a 6-4 advantage in the second quarter to take an 8-7 halftime lead.

Back-to-back goals from Kieran Mullins put Rutgers ahead 11-8. Bobby Russo picked up a stellar assist on the second, launching a 60-yard pass the length of the field to find him for the score.

Michigan came back with four of the next five goals to tie the game at 12-12. But it would be the Scarlet Knights to score the final tally, as Connor Kirst's fifth goal of the day came with 5:37 to play and stood up as the game-winner.

Colin Kirst made six saves in the final quarter to ensure the victory. Kirst was the backbone for RU all day, both making saves and with key outlets to spark transition opportunities. 

"I think Colin is one of the best goalkeepers in the country and certainly in the Big Ten," Brecht said. "He's a great communicator, he's another coach on the field, stopping the ball, clearing the ball. We were very successful in transition because of him helping us outlet the ball. He was the MVP for us today."

The Scarlet Knights have clinched the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. That gives the team a bye in the opening weekend of conference tournament action, with the next game coming on Thursday, May 6 in the Big Ten Semifinals, hosted by Penn State.That game will be against the winner of the first round matchup between Penn State and Johns Hopkins. The game will be at 7:30 p.m., televised by the Big Ten Network. 
 
Postgame Notes

• Rutgers finishes the regular season with an 8-2 record
• The eight conference wins and .800 conference winning percentage both mark program bests since joining the Big Ten.
• The 8-2 record through the regular season marked the first time RU had less than three losses in the regular season since 1982
• RU leads the all-time series over Michigan 7-1, winning six straight meetings
• The Scarlet Knights swept four teams in home-and-home matchups during the regular season, the sweep over Michigan joining the team's sweeps of Penn State, Ohio State and Johns Hopkins.
• The team's only two losses this season came to No. 1 Maryland
• Colin Kirst made 19 saves for the second time this season, tying his career-high.
• Connor Kirst scored a season-best five goals, tying his previous career-high.
• Kieran Mullins scored three goals. In five career games against the Wolverines, he has scored 21 goals.
• Michael Sanguinetti had his first multi-goal game of the season, tying his career-high with two goals.
• Andrew Kim scored his first goal as a Scarlet Knight.
• Jaryd Jean-Felix had a career-high three caused turnovers.
• Bobby Russo had his first career assist with a 60-yard pass downfield to set up a goal.

Postgame Student-Athlete Quotes

"We were pushing the ball with good pace. Our defensive midfielders are horses, get the ball and run down to push the pace. That opened up a lot of stuff for our offense today, that ability to go both ways is big for us.
 We're moving the ball well. Today I was the one to benefit from it. Keeping the ball hot, moving the ball to the next guy and see what they can do. I was able to benefit from great team play today. It was a tough game, but we fought hard, keep pushing each other in practice and it comes to fruition in the game."

- Connor Kirst

"I thought our defense played great. Garrett Bullett, Jaryd Jean-Felix and Bobby Russo really held it down from start to finish in all aspects. Michigan has a great attack, their offense is pretty lethal, we were expecting their best effort and they gave it today. That defense was great down the stretch and we need to just keep it going like that. This league is a gauntlet, anyone can beat anyone on any given day. It was a lot of fun out there just buzzing around, it was good.  We've been enjoying every opportunity that we've had together. Every day isn't guaranteed, so we've just been taking advantage of every day and every second together, and that translates onto the field,

- Colin Kirst