PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's lacrosse is heading back to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals. The No. 6 seeded Scarlet Knights defeated No. 14 ranked Harvard
, 19-9, to earn an NCAA Tournament first round victory in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. The game was played in front of a raucous atmosphere at Yurcak Field, with the team returning to the venue for the first time since 2013 and being greeted by a venue record crowd of 5,212. It marked the third largest crowd for an NCAA Tournament First Round game since 2003.
The win over the Crimson marked the Scarlet Knights' fourth all-time NCAA Tournament victory and first home NCAA Tournament win since 1986. Rutgers improves to 14-3 on the season.
Rutgers will return to Hempstead, N.Y. and play in a Quarterfinal hosted on the campus of Hostra University for the second straight season. The Scarlet Knights now move on to face No. 3 Penn on Saturday at 12 p.m.
With the win, Rutgers improves to 14-3 on the season, continuing to raise the bar for this season's program record number of wins. The win over No. 14 was RU's fifth win this season of a nationally ranked foe. That signified the second straight season for RU reaching five ranked wins after previously not having five ranked wins in a season since 2003. Rutgers has claimed 32 ranked wins since 2003 and are 10-6 against ranked foes over the past two years.
Brian Brecht has claimed 23 ranked wins as Rutgers' head coach, and the 14
th win of the season was a new personal high for coach Brecht.
Game Leaders
Ross Scott was the star on the offensive end, scoring eight goals, nearly equaling Harvard's team total singlehandedly. Scott scored eight goals on the day, one shy of tying the NCAA Tournament single game goalscoring record. It was the most goals by a Rutgers player since 2018.
Mitch Bartolo and
Brian Cameron each had a hat trick, with Bartolo adding three assists for a six-point day.
Shane Knobloch had two goals and
Ryan Gallagher and
Sam Stephan also joined the scoring.
Colin Kirst made 17 saves on the day.
Jonathan Dugenio was 16-of-24 on faceoffs with 10 ground balls.
Rutgers outshot Harvard 47-36 and won the ground ball battle, 32-26. RU was 22-of-32 on faceoffs and 18-of-20 clearing.
How It Happened
Rutgers got out to a great start, taking an early 3-0 lead. The three goals came on three straight shots as RU scored three times in a three-minute stretch.
RU used early offense on their first goal, with a caused turnover leading to a
Shane Knobloch goal. Shortly after, a great feed from sophomore
Nick Teresky led to a quick hammer from
Brian Cameron for a goal. Then it was Knobloch again, as his second tally of the opening frame gave the host squad a 3-0 lead.
Harvard answered back with their first goal of the game, but then the RU defense locked the Crimson down again. RU had the next three goals as Harvard was forced into a 17-minute scoring drought as RU expanded their lead to 6-1.
Harvard answered back with a spurt, notching a 3-0 run to get back within 6-4. Rutgers answered with a goal through traffic, as
Ryan Gallagher fed
Brian Cameron for the tally. At halftime, RU led 7-4.
In the third quarter, Rutgers took advantage and outscored Harvard 6-2 in the frame.
Ross Scott had three goals in the third quarter alone, and RU led 13-7 after three quarters.
The Scarlet Knights continued to pour it on in the fourth quarter. After taking a 7-5 lead at halftime, RU would outscore Harvard 12-4 after the break, with Scott scoring seven times himself in the second half to ensure the 19-9 final margin.
Up next, Rutgers will head to Hempstead, N.Y. to face No. 3 Penn in a Quarterfinal matchup hosted by Hofstra. The game will be at either 12 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. It will be the second straight season that RU plays in a Quarterfinal game at Hofstra.
Postgame Quotes
"This week was very exciting for our program, to be able to host a NCAA Tournament First Round game. It was electric from the time we stepped out onto the field in warmups. It felt like a big game environment. Our guys felt that. That was great for our program. To have success and play well like we did gave us the chance to stay together and keep going with this group. I was very happy with the way we got started, we were great facing off and Colin make some big saves. I'm proud of our guys for the way we came out of halftime. The offensive guys did a great job and
Colin Kirst and our defense shut the door on them."
"We had a great crowd of fans supporting us, that was great to see. We've been doing it for each other, to get one more week means the world to us. The rest of the guys on the field helped me be successful, we did a great job of working together and setting up those opportunities. And it starts with the defense, making huge stops, clearing the ball and setting up the offense."
"This was pretty special. It's a privilege to be playing at this point in the season. We had a great week of preparation. Playing here is amazing, a historic stadium, strong roots in New Jersey lacrosse. It was a ton of fun throughout the week and now we've earned another week with our team."
Postgame Notes
Ross Scott (Eight Goals)
- His eight goals were one shy of the NCAA Tournament single-game record, which was nine.
- It was his career-high in goals, surpassing his previous best of five.
- It was the most goals in a game since Kieran Mullins scored eight against Michigan in 2018.
- It was tied for the third most goals in a single game in program history.
- Ross Scott now has 48 goals on the season. On RU's single-season list, he vaulted from 10th entering the game to tied for second most goals in a season in program history, matching RU Hall of Famer Greg Rinaldi's 1990 season.
- With two more goals, he will tie Tom Sweeney (1978) for most goals in a single season in program history.
- He now has 70 points on the season, tied with Tom Sweeney (1978) and John Valestra (1964) for 7th most in a single season.
Mitch Bartolo (Three Goals, Three Assists)
- He now has 41 goals on the season, 12th most in RU history.
- Tied his career-high with six points.
- Tied his career-high with three assists.
Colin Kirst (17 Saves, 8 Ground Balls)
- He now has 203 saves on the season, 4th most in a single season in program history.
- Set a new career-high in ground balls. His previous high of seven came in last year's NCAA Tournament First Round win.
Sam Stephan (One Goal)
- Recorded his first goal of the season / as a Scarlet Knight.
Nick Teresky (Three Assists)
- Set a new career-high for assists and tied his career-high in points.
Gallery: (5-15-2022) Men's Lacrosse Defeats Harvard in NCAAs
