PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 12 Rutgers men's lacrosse grabbed its first Big Ten Conference win of the season in thrilling fashion, toppling No. 16/18 Michigan, 13-12, in overtime, in front of 3,534 fans at SHI Stadium on Friday night. Shane Knobloch scored the game-winner of the first possession of overtime to give the Scarlet Knights their 16^th straight home win and 8^th straight win over Michigan.

"The Big Ten is a very competitive conference, top to bottom," head coach Brian Brecht said. "We didn't start off conference play good enough on the road. There's a lot of opportunities in this league. We needed to dig in a bit and the guys competed well. They were challenged in practice this week and they rose to the occasion. They stayed in the moment. I'm very proud of them. We have some great seniors and some unbelievable captains."

Rutgers was led offensively by Brian Cameron, who returned to a starting role after missing most of the past three games with an injury. Cameron had four goals, while Knobloch had three goals and an assist for four points. Justin Kim and Jack Aimone each had two-goal games from the midfield, while Ross Scott and Noah Daniels each added a tally.

"It felt great, after being out for most of three games to come back and feel healthy and get a great win for our program," Brian Cameron said. "We changed our energy around and found the fun in the game again. We had great energy all week and that carried into the game."

On defense, Brad Apgar had four caused turnovers, Jack Stahanczyk had three, and Noah Daniels had two, as RU caused 12 turnovers on the day. Bobby Russo also shut down Michigan's leading scorer, Josh Zawada. Ethan Rall added a team-high seven ground balls and a season-high four caused turnovers. 

"The defense was locked in and focused, other than a stretch in the last five minutes of the third quarter," Brecht said. "But give them credit, they buckled in, they chewed glass, and they bit nails and got a great win at home on a Friday night on national television."

Rutgers was a perfect 19-of-19 on clears. RU led in shots (47-32) and had just six turnovers.

After one quarter, RU led 3-2. The team would have a 5-4 lead at halftime and had a 5-0 run from the 9:10 mark of the second quarter to the 4:56 mark of the third quarter, which got them a 9-4 lead.

Michigan would not relent and answered with the next four goals to get back within one. Rutgers jumped back up 12-9, but again Michigan answered, tying the game at 12-12.

In overtime, Rutgers won the faceoff, called timeout, and set up a play. The ball went to Knobloch, who finished off the victory.

"I came up off the pick from Justin Kim, got my hands free, and got my shot off," Knobloch said. "This is a huge one for us, and an even bigger one for us next week so we take it one game at a time. We learned a lot about controlling the game, having to bounce back and control the ball offensively."

Up Next
Rutgers has one more regular season home game, hosting No. 5 Maryland next Sunday night. That game will be at 7 p.m. on BTN. The game will be Senior Day and Alumni Appreciation Day. RU will honor last season's Final Four squad.

Postgame Notes

• RU's third ranked win of the season.
• 8^th straight win over Michigan and a 9-1 record overall versus the Wolverines.
• RU has a 7-0 home record this season, 14-0 home record over the past two seasons and 18-1 home record over the past three season, with 16 straight wins at SHI Stadium.
• RU is 2-0 in overtime this season (wins over No. 13/14 Princeton and No. 16/18 Michigan).
• Brian Cameron tied his season-high in goals.
• It was Cameron's sixth game this season with at least three goals.
• Knobloch tied his season-high in goals with his third hat trick this year.
• It was the third straight meeting between RU and Michigan that Rutgers won by a 13-12 final score.
• Rutgers had just six turnovers, the team's fewest ever in a Big Ten game (dating back to joining the league in 2015).