PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 4 Rutgers men's lacrosse earned a dramatic victory to cap the regular season on Senior Day. The Scarlet Knights scored the final four goals of the game to earn a 15-14 overtime victory over Penn State. Rutgers trailed 14-11 with 10:42 to play, then launched a comeback that saw
Ross Scott score both to tie the game with eight seconds left in regulation and then win the game in overtime.
With the victory, Rutgers improved to 12-2 overall and 4-1 in Big Ten play, capturing the Friendship Cup trophy for the rivalry series between the two teams. The 12 wins set the program record for the most victories in a season in program history. The game was played in front of a program record attendance of 5,223.
Scott led the way with five goals overall.
Mitch Bartolo recorded a hat trick, while
Shane Knobloch and
Ronan Jacoby each tallied twice.
Brian Cameron,
Tommy Coyne and
Brennan Kamish each scored once. Knobloch also had a career-high four assists for a career-high six points.
"There was a lot of emotions around this game, with Senior Day, all our alumni back in town, and honoring a legend in Tom Hayes," head coach
Brian Brecht explained. "Give our guys a lot of credit, it was a great win in a toughly contested game. We had a fight on our hands. We had moments of greatness where we played well and times where we needed to be more buttoned up. But it's a great win for our guys. I'm very proud of the whole team. The seniors, these are memories they are going to keep for the rest of their lives."
Rutgers had the advantage in shots (51-42) and ground balls (35-25). RU won 17-of-31 faceoffs and had just 11 turnovers.
"Penn State coming out swinging, we had to battle through some adversity,"
Ross Scott explained. "We did a really good job of staying strong and pushing back against them. I was lucky enough to be in a good situation on that game-winning goal. We've had a lot of guys stepping up all season long. The seniors have had such a great impact on our program and helping to build it. They've done a lot for us and we owed them to win that game for them."
The game was fairly even throughout, and RU led 9-8 going into halftime. PSU had a four-goal run to take a 12-9 lead, then RU came back with the next two goals to cut the score to 12-11. Penn State answered again with the next two to take a 14-11 lead. But their goal to go up by three at 10:42 left in the fourth quarter would be their final score of the night. Rutgers scored the next four to win the game, with
Ross Scott scoring the crucial tallies to tie the game with eight seconds remaining, and then win it in overtime.
Postgame Notes
With the win:
- Rutgers' 12th win of the season set a new program record.
- Rutgers' 4-1 Big Ten finish is its best conference record in the Big Ten's traditional single-play (non-COVID) conference format.
- Rutgers is 12-3 in conference play over the past two years.
- Rutgers improves to 7-0 this season, 11-1 over the past two seasons and 13-2 over the past three seasons in home games.
- Rutgers remains unbeaten on Senior Days since joining the Big Ten.
- Rutgers finishes the regular season conference slate unbeaten against every non-Maryland team for the second straight season.
- Rutgers won its first overtime game since 2017, when it defeated Ohio State, also on Senior Day.
Individually:
- Shane Knobloch had a career-high four assists and a career-high six points.
- Ross Scott tied his career-high with five goals.
- Ethan Rall tied his career-high with six ground balls.
- Jonathan Dugenio won 17 faceoffs, his second most of the season and tied for his most ever against a Big Ten team. His eight ground balls marked his most ever against a Big Ten team.
Alumni Appreciation
Rutgers honored the 1972 and 1992 RU teams at the game, along with all RU Hall of Famers. The program also hosted a 'Celebration of Life' event for Tom Hayes pregame.
Senior Day
RU recognized 27 seniors in a postgame ceremony as the program recognized all its players that are graduating with their undergraduate or Master's degrees this spring.
The group includes:
Two attackmen:
Mitch Bartolo and
Eric Civetti
Seven midfielders:
Ryan Gallagher,
Ronan Jacoby,
Andrew Kim,
Justin Kim,
Joe Peterson,
Michael Sanguinetti and
David Sprock
Six defensemen:
Brad Apgar,
Bryant Boswell,
Jaryd Jean-Felix,
Bobby Russo,
Jack Stahanczyk and
Jonathan Taub
Three goalkeeper:
Toby Burgdorf,
Colin Kirst and
Stephen Russo
Two long-stick midfielders:
Ethan Rall and
Brian Ward
Four short-stick defensive midfielders:
Tommy Coyne,
Cole Daninger,
Zackary Franckowiak and
Brennan Kamish
Three faceoff specialists:
Michael Ott,
Sam Stephan and
Moriah Yousefi
Eight of those seniors participating in the Senior Day ceremony committed to a return for the 2023 season, while additional seniors are still undecided and could return to utilize additional eligibility. Those eight seniors set to return for 2023 are:
Up Next
Rutgers has a bye in the Quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament and will have next weekend off. RU returns to action on Thursday, May 5 in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals, which will be held in College Park, Md. That game will be on the Big Ten Network. The full tournament bracket will be finalized on Sunday night.
