CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 9 Rutgers men's lacrosse defeated No. 8 seed Lehigh 12-5 on Saturday for the program's first NCAA Tournament victory since 1990. 

Kieran Mullins, Adam Charalambides and Connor Kirst each scored three goals for RU. Colin Kirst backstopped the Scarlet Knights with 17 saves. 

"I'm very happy and excited to be in this moment," head coach Brian Brecht said following the game. "We had a great week of preparation and played well for all sixty minutes. Our defense was outstanding, to hold them to five goals was impressive. Colin was great with 17 saves. It was a great win. I'm so happy for our senior class. I'm very thankful and happy for all our alumni to get this win for them. Our team should be very proud of what they've accomplished."
 
Lehigh got on the board first scoring just over a minute into the game. But Rutgers came right back with an answer. Adam Charalambides answered for RU just a minute later. David Sprock then added a goal, with a nice juke step and firing in a lefty laser for a 2-1 lead at the 5:34 mark of the opening quarter. It was a 12 minute scoring drought for the Mountain Hawks, with Colin Kirst making five early saves, before Lehigh evened the game at 2-2 late in the first quarter.
 
Rutgers came back with a 3-0 advantage in the second quarter. Mullins and Charalambides (twice) tallied to give RU a 5-2 lead at halftime. 
 
Brennan Kamish started the second half with a goal, as RU extended their lead to 6-2. The Scarlet Knights held Lehigh scoreless for 25:38 before the Mountain Hawks tallied at the 5:12 mark of the third quarter, but Rutgers' transition offense led to another score as Cole Daninger gave the Scarlet Knights a 7-3 lead.
 
Rutgers would score four of the final five goals of the game to put the victory away. The key stretch was back-to-back identical plays, with Jonathan Dugenio winning faceoffs and pushing the ball to Connor Kirst for rocket goals, a pair of tallies just seven seconds apart. Kieran Mullins dumped the ball into the net one final time in the waning seconds to set off a celebration among the Scarlet Knights. 

"To win an NCAA Tournament game, that's really hard to do," attackman Connor Kirst said. You have to put a whole season together. We brought it all together today to put our best foot forward and get a nice win. It's really special."
 
With the victory, Rutgers advances to the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Scarlet Knights will face No. 1 seed North Carolina next Saturday, at Stuart Stadium on the campus of Hofstra University.

"We played a great game," goalkeeper Colin Kirst said. "Our defense executed really well, our offense played well. It was a lot of fun out there. It's pretty surreal. I'm just grateful to have this opportunity. We're enjoying every day we have with the team, and seizing the moment."
 
Postgame Notes
 
The victory for Scarlet Knights represented:

• Rutgers' first NCAA Tournament win since 1990.
• The team's 3rd win this season over a team ranked in the top-10 of national polls.
• The team's 5th win this season over a nationally ranked foe (all in the top-15). It marked the first time RU won five games over ranked teams in one season since 2003.
• Rutgers' 40th lifetime win over Lehigh. That is the second most wins for RU over any one team, trailing just the Penn State series (45 wins over PSU)
• The second seeded team RU ever defeated in the NCAA Tournament. Rutgers' previous wins in the NCAA Tournament came against No. 6 Virginia (1990) and unseeded CW Post (1986).
• Rutgers dealt Lehigh just its second loss of the season.

Team Notes

• Rutgers' defense allowed a season-low five goals.
• It was the least goals RU allowed since holding Fairfield to four goals on March 2, 2019, a span of 27 games.
• The five goals was the fewest RU ever allowed in an NCAA Tournament game.
• Rutgers scored 12 goals, the second-most the Scarlet Knights ever totaled in an NCAA Tournament game.

 
Adam Charalambides (3 Goals, 1 Assist)

• Passed Greg Rinaldi for second place all-time in Rutgers history in goals. 
• Charalambides passed Steve Luciano and Ryan O'Shea for sixth place all-time in points.

Connor Kirst (3 Goals)

• Tied his career-high in points, reaching 50 points in a season for the second time.

Kieran Mullins (3 Goals, 2 Assists)

• Now has 127 goals, taking sole possession of seventh place all-time. 

Colin Kirst (17 Saves)

• Has recorded double-digit saves in 11 of 12 games this season.
• Had a career-high seven ground balls.

Jonathan Dugenio (Two assists)

• Set a new career-high with his first career two assist game.
• Tied his career-high in points