BALTIMORE – No. 5 Rutgers men's lacrosse continued its impressive start to the season, claiming a 13-12 road win at No. 19 Loyola. The victory, RU's second straight victory over a top-20 foe, ran the Scarlet Knights record to 5-0 on the season.

The Scarlet Knights showed impressive resolve, battling back from an 11-8 third quarter deficit to outscore the Greyhounds 5-1 over the final 20 minutes of action. Rutgers was led by four goals from Ross Scott and three tallies from Shane Knobloch.

Mitch Bartolo had a two-goal day, while Ryan Gallagher and Brian Cameron also scored goals. Colin Kirst made 10 saves for RU. Jonathan Dugenio won 13 faceoffs and collected nine ground balls.

Rutgers claimed a 40-37 advantage in shots, while Loyola led 30-24 in ground balls. RU was 17-of-19 on clears, including 11-of-11 in the second half.

The first quarter went back-and-forth between the two teams. Loyola got off to a quick start, tallying two early goals. Rutgers countered with two goals of their own, tying the game at 2-2. Loyola then went up by two against at 4-2, but again RU came back to tie. Shane Knobloch and Mitch Bartolo tallied just 49 seconds apart, and after one frame, the score was level at 4-4.

In the second quarter, Rutgers took its first lead of the day on Ryan Gallagher's first goal of the season. Loyola countered with a 3-0 run to go back in front at 7-5. Mitch Bartolo halted the run with his second goal of the day, but the Greyhounds took a 7-6 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the third quarter, Ronan Jacoby and Shane Knobloch provided the RU offense with a lift. While Loyola went up 11-8, each of them scored twice in the frame, and then a tally from Ross Scott evened the score at 11-11. Scott then made it a 4-0 run for RU to end the quarter, scoring twice just 40 seconds apart to give the visitors a 12-11 lead after three quarters.

Scott then tallied again to start the fourth quarter, making it three goals in a two-minute span for a 13-11 RU lead. Loyola got one back with 4:34 to go, cutting the advantage to 13-12. Loyola pushed for an equalizer, but RU caused a turnover with 1:24 to play and held on for the victory.

"We want to be playing our best lacrosse at the end of May, not the end of February," head coach Brian Brecht told reporters in Baltimore following the game. "But having these games under our belt early, having these experiences, getting challenged like we did today, going down early, coming back to tie it, going back down and maybe having to produce and make decisions when you're in tight situations when you're up at the end of the game, is big for us."

 

Postgame Notes

• Rutgers improved to 5-0, holding on to the nation's top record through another weekend.
• The Scarlet Knights claimed their second straight ranked win and 26th lifetime ranked win.
• RU is 4-1 in their last five matchups against ranked teams and 7-3 versus ranked teams in the past two seasons.
• Rutgers grabbed its first win over Loyola since 2007 (and second overall).
• It was Rutgers' first ever road win at Loyola.
• Ross Scott had his second straight game with at least 4 goals.
• Shane Knobloch had a hat trick for the second straight game. 

 

Up Next

Rutgers is back on the road next weekend. The Scarlet Knights will travel to Stony Brook for a 1 p.m. Saturday contest.