PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 8 Rutgers men's lacrosse earned a hard fought 10-9 win over No. 14 Ohio State in front of a crowd of 1,197 at SHI Stadium on Saturday evening. The victory secured sole possession of second place in the Big Ten for the Scarlet Knights.
"To get a Big Ten win over a ranked opponent, I'm proud of our guys," head coach
Brian Brecht said. We want to get better each week, and part of that is what goes into winning a one-goal game, offensively, defensively and with the specialty units. I thought we did a great job getting stops,
Colin Kirst was excellent in the goal, he made some great saves. Offensively, we were very timely with our goals, especially in the fourth quarter. I was happy with the play overall, it was a great team win."
Rutgers was led by
Adam Charalambides with three goals. Charalambides came up clutch late, breaking a deadlocked game with back-to-back goals in the final minutes.
In between the pipes, Collin Kirst stood out to backstop the RU defense. Kirst made 15 saves for RU.
Connor Kirst was the lone other multi-goal scorer with two tallies,
Kieran Mullins,
Ross Scott,
Michael Sanguinetti,
Shane Knobloch, and
Ryan Gallagher each scored once apiece.
Rutgers took control early with a 4-1 run over the first 20 minutes. Six different Scarlet Knights scored a goal in the first half to give the home team a 6-3 at halftime.
In the second half, OSU pushed back, tying the game at 8-8 with 4:52 to play. Charalambides came through with two clutch goals, finishing off a
Ryan Gallagher feed for the go-ahead goal, then scoring unassisted to give RU a two-goal advantage.
The Buckeyes added one late tally, getting back within one. However, Rutgers' defense held tall at the end to secure the victory.
"Our defense played great today,"
Colin Kirst said. "Those guys had an unbelievable games, the guys down low, the poles, rope unit. All credit to them, they forced tough shots and those are the ones I like to see. It's a priviledge to be out there every day, we're just trying to enjoy each others presence every day and keep on getting better."
Rutgers is back in action next weekend on the road. The Scarlet Knights will travel to face No. 19 Penn State next Saturday at noon, with a live stream available on BTN Plus.
Postgame Notes
With the Win
- Marked the first time defeating a Big Ten foe twice in one season since RU claimed two wins over Johns Hopkins in 2016.
- Rutgers has four ranked wins on the season, its first time with four ranked wins in one season since 2018
- It marked the first time ever winning four games over ranked Big Ten teams in the same season.
- Rutgers improved its record in the all-time series versus Ohio State to 11-3
- RU has claimed five wins over OSU since joining the Big Ten, with the Buckeyes ranked in the top-15 nationally each time.
- Rutgers' fifth win this season over a Big Ten team marked their most ever Big Ten wins in one season.
Individuals
Kieran Mullins
- Moved past Jules Heningburg for sole possession of second place all-time at Rutgers in career points.
- Ties Jack Daut for 9th all-time in goals at Rutgers (113).
Connor Kirst
- Scored his 100th career goal
Adam Charalambides
- Had three goals, passing Ryan O'Shea for fifth place all-time at Rutgers in goals (129).
