PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 17/18 Rutgers men's lacrosse opened Big Ten play on Sunday afternoon, facing No. 11/13 Johns Hopkins in front of 2,665 fans at SHI Stadium. The Blue Jays claimed a 13-8 win in the contest, dropping RU to 6-3 on the year and 0-1 in league play.

Shane Knobloch led RU with three goals. It was his fifth hat trick of the season through nine games, and he leads the team with 22 goals on the year.

Jack Aimone and Dante Kulas each had two goals, while Colin Kurdyla added a goal and two assists. Ross Scott also had two assists.

Cardin Stoller had 10 saves for RU. Cole Brams was 12-of-20 on faceoffs. Overall, Rutgers had the advantage in shots (35-33) and ground balls (28-19).

"You have to be laser focused for sixty minutes in a game like that against a good team," head coach Brian Brecht explained. "We gave them some opportunities and put ourselves in a hole early on. We have to play better more consistently throughout the ebbs and flows of the game. We got it to 8-7, had a lot of momentum, and we let them off the hook at the end."

The Scarlet Knights took an early lead, scoring two of the first three goals in the game for a 2-1 lead after four minutes. However, the Blue Jays took command of the game, utilizing a 6-0 run to take a 7-2 lead late in the second quarter. The Scarlet Knights were held scoreless for 22 minutes in that stretch.

However, the home team came to life with a 5-1 run in the middle part of the game, spanning halftime, to push back within one goal at 8-7. At the end of the opening half, Dante Kulas scored back-to-back goals for the Scarlet Knights. Kulas beat the halftime buzzer, scoring at the horn to push the deficit to 7-4 at intermission.

JHU had a goal to go up 8-4 five minutes into the third. Rutgers then shut off the Hopkins offense, holding them without a goal for the next 12 minutes. The Scarlet Knights got back to 8-7 at the end of the third quarter. However, JHU answered with some strong efforts and scored five of the final six goals of the game over the final 18 minutes of the contest to clinch the victory.

Rutgers continues Big Ten Conference play at home next weekend. The Scarlet Knights host Ohio State on Saturday, March 30 at 4:30 p.m.