QUEENS, N.Y. – No. 9 Rutgers men's lacrosse dominated regional rival St. John's on Saturday, winning 23-6 to improve to 3-0 on the young season.

Rutgers scored its most goals in a game since 2010, when RU put 24 goals on Wagner. The 17-goal margin of victory was the most since a 21-2 win over NJIT in 2015. The Scarlet Knights raced out to an 8-1 halftime lead and never looked back.

The offense was led by Ross Scott, who had a career-high five goals. Brian Cameron tied a career-high with four goals. Dante Kulas, a freshman with zero career points entering the day, scored four goals and had two assists for six points.

Mitch Bartolo, Shane Knobloch and Jack Aimone all tallied twice in the game. Ronan Jacoby, Michael Sanguinetti, Justin Kim and Nick Teresky each had one goal.

Rutgers got off to a quick start, scoring the first three goals in the game, opening a 3-0 lead after nine minutes. In the first quarter, RU had four different goal scorers boost the team out to a 4-1 lead, outshooting the home team 15-7 in the first frame.  

The Scarlet Knights continued the strong start in the second quarter, scoring four straight goals to take an 8-1 lead. RU had balanced scoring, with their first eight goals coming from seven different goal scorers.

The Scarlet Knights capitalized on a 28-12 advantage in shots and 10-of-11 performance on faceoffs in the opening half from Jonathan Dugenio to take a seven-goal lead into the halftime locker room.

Cameron completed his hat trick just 21 seconds into the second half before St. John's finally tallied their second of the day, marking an end to a 23-minute scoring drought. Rutgers was not phased, answering with a 3-0 run in just 31 seconds to extend the lead to 12-3. The team kept pouring it on, as Ross Scott scored three goals himself in a two-minute span to put Rutgers ahead 17-3.

It was a 10-2 advantage for the visitors in the third quarter alone. The Scarlet Knights closed out the game from there, finishing off the victory.  
 
Postgame Notes

• Rutgers now holds a 23-7 advantage in the all-time series.
• This was RU's eighth straight win over the Red Storm.
• RU has won seven straight games over St. John's and have outscored them 131-79 in that span. 
• The team opens with a 3-0 record for the second straight year.
• Ross Scott had a career-high five goals and seven points.
• Freshman Dante Kulas had his first collegiate goals and assists in the game, finishing with four goals and two assists.
• Brian Cameron matched his previous career-high with four goals, his most in a game as a Scarlet Knight.
• Rutgers used its third different starting lineup this season, as Jack Stahnzcyk made his first start of the season on defense.
• Michael Sanguinetti has five goals through three games, tying his previous career-high for a season that he previous set in 2018
• In his fifth season as a Scarlet Knight, Michael Sanguinetti has scored in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.
• Jack Aimone's two goals were the first of his career.
• Logan Peters had his first career point with an assist.
• Jonathan Dugenio was 16-of-20 on faceoffs with 10 ground balls against his old team.
• Jack Stahanczyk led the team with three caused turnovers, a career-high.
• Justin Kim had his first goal as a Scarlet Knight.
• Goalkeeper Colin Kirst allowed just three goals in the first three quarters, making 10 saves.
• Goalkeeper Toby Burgdorf made his Rutgers debut, playing the fourth quarter and making three saves.
• Rutgers led in shots (59-29), faceoffs (23-9) and ground balls (26-22).

 
UP NEXT
No. 9 Rutgers returns home to face its first ranked opponent of the year. The Scarlet Knights host No. 11 Army next Saturday at 1 p.m. at SHI Stadium.