AMHERST, Mass. — No. 6 Rutgers men's lacrosse scored a convincing road victory at RV/RV UMass on Saturday afternoon as seven different Scarlet Knights tallied goals on the way to an 11-5 win. Rutgers erased a 3-2 deficit after one quarter with a 5-0 second period to take permanent control of the game.

Dante Kulas led the attack with four points on two goals and two assists. Ross Scott, David Sprock, and Eric Civetti also scored a pair of goals, with additional markers from Shane Knobloch, Jack Aimone, and Noah Daniels in the road win. Kyle Mullin made 12 saves in net and to lower his Big Ten-leading goals-against average to 9.24 heading into conference play next weekend.

The defensive effort was also led by Ethan Rall and Bobby Russo, who had three and two caused turnovers, respectively. The unit went 18-of-19 on clear attempts and held the Gorillas scoreless on three man-up attempts. 

Rutgers took 1-0 and 2-1 leads early in the first on goals from Sprock and Knobloch, but Massachusetts's early rally had the home team up, 3-2, after one.

The Scarlet Knights answered with a 5-0 second period to take a 7-3 lead into halftime. UMass managed just three total shots and zero on target in the second as UMass committed seven turnovers. The attack took advantage with unanswered goals from Kulas, Civetti, Sprock, and a pair from Scott, which came within 41 seconds of each other.

RU stretched the scoring run to six in a row when Knobloch fed Kulas on the extra-man goals for the 8-3 lead. UMass got one back midway through the third, a low-scoring 1-1 quarter.

Aimone, Civetti, and Daniels all scored in the fourth to ice the road win. 

The Scarlet Knights outshot the Gorillas, 53-32, in shots, including a 31-17 edge in shots on goal. Faceoffs did not make a big drip of difference as both teams won 10 from the X. Rutgers made just 12 turnover compared to Massachusett's 16, while UMass went 11-of-15 on the clear. 
 
Postgame Notes

• Playing for the first time since 2009, Rutgers moves closer in the all-time series, which UMass now leads 18-11.
• The five goals against represented the fewest goals scored in a game by UMass since Feb. 8, 2020 and the fewest allowed in a game by RU since May 15, 2021, the NCAA Tournament victory over Lehigh (a span of 28 games)
• That last time RU allowed 5 or fewer goals in a true road game was March 2, 2019 at Fairfield (an 8-4 win, 55 games ago)
• It was the third time this season holding an opponent to 6 goals or fewer. The last time RU held 3 opponents to 6 or fewer goals in a game in the same season was 2017. 

Up Next
Rutgers opens Big Ten play at No. 15/14 Ohio State on Sun., March 26 at 7 p.m. live on Big Ten Network.