PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 9/10 Rutgers men's lacrosse improved to 2-0 to start the 2023 season. The Scarlet Knights took down Stony Brook by a score of 11-7.
Brian Cameron led RU with three goals and four points in the game, his second straight hat trick to start the season.
Ross Scott,
Jack Aimone and
David Sprock each had two goals.
Shane Knobloch and
Dante Kulas added a goal apiece.
Rutgers outshot Stony Brook 49-32 and won 15 of the 21 faceoffs to control play. RU also forced the visitors into 21 turnovers, but Stony Brook made 23 saves to keep the game close.
The Scarlet Knights had a 33-26 advantage in ground balls and held Stony Brook to 1-of-6 on man-up opportunities.
Game Summary
Stony Brook had a 2-1 lead after the first 10 minutes of action, spurred by 9 saves in the opening quarter. Rutgers responded with the next three goals for a 4-2 lead and scored seven of the next eight goals to make it a 9-3 lead with 20 minutes to play.
The Seawolves didn't wilt, coming back with four of the next five goals to cut the RU lead to 10-7. But the home side defense buckled down late, keeping Stony Brook off the scoreboard for the final 7:15 of the game, and
Brian Cameron had a final insurance tally with 1:52 to play to ice the victory.
Postgame Notes
- Ross Scott and Brian Cameron both reached the 100-point plateau for their careers. Scott did so in 40 career games over four seasons, while Cameron did so in 58 career games over five seasons.
- Sprock's goals were his first scores since the 2021 season.
- Newcomer Joe Neuman excelled at the faceoff 'X', taking 19 of the 21 faceoffs in the game. He won 13-of-19 (68.4%) and had six ground balls. That represented a new career-high in faceoffs won.
- Freshman Ryan Splaine had a career-high four ground balls and his first career caused turnover.
- Ryan Decker tied his career-high with two caused turnovers.
- Brad Apgar tied his Rutgers' high with three caused turnovers.
The win represented:
• 2-0 start to the season for the eighth straight season (since 2016).
Postgame Quotes
"We knew Stony Brook would be a tough game. Last year they played us right down to the very end. And that's what we got. It was nice to be able to put a couple in the back of the net myself, but overall, it's just good as a team to get the win."
"Our defense played well together. We played as one, we made all the right slides. The offense is doing their thing, we've been strong as a defense. It's a long season but that's a good sign for us going forward."
