STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - No. 6 Rutgers men's lacrosse fell in the Big Ten Semifinals on Thursday night, dropping the contest to No. 20 Johns Hopkins by a 12-10 final score.
Adam Charalambides and
Connor Kirst each scored twice for RU as eight different players scored for RU.
Colin Kirst made 12 saves, reaching double-figure saves for the 10th time this season.
"We had our opportunities, we just came up a little bit short today," head coach
Brian Brecht said. " It's a sixty minute game, all the plays matter. We didn't make enough plays throughout the game to come out on top today. Every game matters. We came up a little short today but we had eight Big Ten wins this year. That is impressive. I'm very proud and thankful for the efforts that this team gave all year long. In the preseason, there were five Big Ten teams in the top-20 and there was a reason for that. It's pretty clear the season we had and the successes we had, and I give our guys a lot of credit for that."
Kieran Mullins reached 100 career assists, become the second Rutgers player to ever reach 100 career goals and 100 career assists.
Adam Charalambides moved into sole possession of third place all-time at Rutgers in goals and tied for eighth all-time in points.
Johns Hopkins got out to an early 2-0 lead, but RU would hold them scoreless for the next 15 minutes to jump in front 3-2. An exceptional effort from
Kieran Mullins got them on the board. 80 seconds later,
Adam Charalambides tied the game at 2-2. A
David Sprock man-up tally made the advantage 3-2 following the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, Rutgers received goals from
Brennan Kamish (who stung a running shot into the top corner) and
Connor Kirst (who picked up a loose ball and fired one in). At halftime, Johns Hopkins led 7-5.
The third quarter was low scoring.
Ross Scott scored the first goal of the second half for the Scarlet Knights to break a scoreless drought. At the end of three quarters, Johns Hopkins led 10-6.
Rutgers gained some momentum early in the fourth quarter, scoring three straight.
Ryan Gallagher scored, and then a minute later it was
Michael Sanguinetti with a marker to cut the Hopkins lead to 10-8.
Connor Kirst later fired in his second of the day to get back within one goal at 10-9. However, the Scarlet Knights would never retake the lead as the Blue Jays finished off the victory.
The Scarlet Knights will now wait to see if the team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Selection Show will be this Sunday night at 9 p.m on ESPNU.
Brennan Kamish represented the Scarlet Knights on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
Gallery: (5-7-2021) Big Ten Men's Lacrosse Tournament