PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 4 Rutgers men's lacrosse defeated Johns Hopkins, 12-7 in a nationally televised Sunday night contest. The Scarlet Knights improved to 10-1 on the season and 2-0 in Big Ten Conference play. Rutgers reached double-digit wins for the fastest time in program history with their third win over Johns Hopkins over the past two seasons.
The Scarlet Knights held the Blue Jays to a season-low in goals and the team's fewest since 2020, a 28-game span. It was the fewest goals that Johns Hopkins had scored in a game against Rutgers since 1955.
With the win, the Scarlet Knights are 6-0 this season at home, 12-2 over the past three seasons at home and 36-8 over the past seven seasons at home.The attendance was 3,217.
Rutgers was led by three goals and two assists from
Shane Knobloch, while
Mitch Bartolo,
Ronan Jacoby and
Ryan Gallagher each had two goals. Jacoby added two assists for a four-point day.
Brian Cameron,
Zackary Franckowiak and
Jack Aimone also scored in the contest.
The defense was led by
Bobby Russo scooping six ground balls. Zackary Francowiak had three caused turnovers and three ground balls.
Colin Kirst made seven saves.
The Scarlet Knights raced out to a 3-0 lead in the game, which they would expand to 9-2 after 25 minutes of action. RU led 9-4 at halftime.
After 13 goals in the first half combined, each team scored three goals in the final half, accounting for the 12-7 final score. Rutgers held JHU scoreless over the last 16:42 of the game.
Postgame Notes
WITH THE VICTORY
- Rutgers is 10-1 through 11 games, marking the fastest RU reached double-digit wins in program history
- The previous fastest was the 1982 team, the first ever RU squad to reach the 10-win plateau, which did so in the 12th game of the season.
- Rutgers reached double-digit wins for the first time since 2017 and third time under head coach Brian Brecht (also in 2016).
- RU recorded the seventh double-digit win season in program history (1982, 1986, 1990, 2003, 2016, 2017, 2022).
- Rutgers earned its ninth lifetime win over Johns Hopkins
- Ensure wins in three of the past four meetings with the Blue Jays.
- The Scarlet Knights started Big Ten play with a 2-0 record for the second straight season and third time since joining the league.
- Rutgers improved to 20-17 in regular season Big Ten Conference play and 12-5 over the past three seasons.
INDIVIDUALS
- Bobby Russo had a career-high six ground balls.
- His six ground balls were the most for a RU starting close defenseman since Garrett Bullett in 2020 (St. John's) and most ground balls for a RU starting close defenseman in a Big Ten game since Chris Groel vs. Penn State in 2016.
- Zackary Franckowiak had a career-high three caused turnovers.
- Ryan Gallagher had a season-high in goals.
- Shane Knobloch had his fourth hat trick of the season.
- Knobloch tied his career-high in assists, as he now has career-highs on the season in goals (20), assists (7) and points (27).
- Zackary Franckowiak had three caused turnovers in the game. Previously, his season-high in caused turnovers was three. He has a new career-high this season with eight caused turnovers, five of which have come in RU's two Big Ten game.
Quotable
"We had a great week of practice. When we prepare well, we play well and we played to our strengths in that game. They were excited to play tonight and that showed coming out of the gates. Coach
Jimmy Ryan does a great job of getting our defense prepared and we took a step forward this week. They continue to make plays."
- Head Coach
Brian Brecht
"We moved the ball well the whole game on offense and that helped us get the win. I was getting good looks today. Our coaches do a great job of preparing us all week long and we just executed that game plan."
- Midfielder
Shane Knobloch
"Getting into Big Ten play, we're really coming into our own and meshing well on the defensive end. We talk a lot about not getting too high or too low in the moment. When the game slowed down in the second half, we knew we had to adjust to that, not press and just play good defense and that worked out in the end."
- Defenseman
Bobby Russo
Gallery: (4-3-2022) Men's Lacrosse Defeats Johns Hopkins
Up Next
Rutgers plays its first Big Ten road game next weekend in the same 7 p.m. Big Ten Network time slot. The Scarlet Knights head south to College Park, Md., where they will face the No. 1 team in the nation, Maryland, who enters the matchup with a 9-0 record. Rutgers will be looking for its first win over the Terps since 1980 and second in program history.
