PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's lacrosse earned a home win on a rainy Saturday afternoon, defeating Hofstra, 13-8. The Scarlet Knights (4-1) raced out to a 12-4 lead after 35 minutes and held off the Pride (3-3) from there.
Rutgers got multi-goal games from five of their offensive starters, led by a hat trick from freshman
Colin Kurdyla, who had his second three-goal game through the first five contests of his collegiate career.
Ross Scott (game-high five points),
Shane Knobloch,
Jack Aimone and
Dante Kulas each had two goals apiece.
John Sidorski and
Brandon Hund (first goal as a Scarlet Knight) also tallied in the game.
Cardin Stoller made 11 saves for the Scarlet Knights, including nine stops in the first half as RU grew its lead to 10-4 heading into halftime. Overall, Rutgers held a 46-33 advantage in shots.
"
Cardin Stoller did a great job for us today with some great saves, he saw the ball really well," head coach
Brian Brecht said. "Our guys are growing on the offensive and defensive end and learning how to play off each other and what our strengths are. As each week goes by, we'll continue to get better. This was a good win for us to get two wins in a row, starting off a three-game homestand here in Piscataway that's what we need."
The Scarlet Knights opened up a 2-0 lead in holding Hofstra off the scoreboard for the first 8 minutes of the game. The Pride got back within one at 4-3 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Rutgers ripped off a 5-0 run to seize control of the contest at 9-3 late in the second quarter. Another 3-0 run spanning both quarters brought the advantage to eight midway through the third quarter. Hofstra finished out the game on a 4-1 run late in the driving rainstorm, but it was not enough, as RU sealed the five-goal margin of victory.
With The Win, RU:
- Starts the season with a 4-1 or better record for the fourth straight season.
- Third straight win over Hofstra, dating to 2019.
- 19-3 in non-conference play over the past three seasons.
- 15-2 at home over the past three seasons.
Up Next
The Scarlet Knights have their lone midweek game of the season as they'll host Detroit Mercy on Tuesday afternoon (3 p.m.). That is followed by another home game Sunday, as Rutgers will battle Princeton for the Tots Meistrell Cup.
