PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's lacrosse hosted No. 10 Penn State on Senior Day, falling to the Nittany Lions, 15-9 in front of 2,964 fans. The Scarlet Knights were led by a season-high four goal from Dante Kulas. RU recognized a 27-member senior class in a pregame ceremony, then honored its alumni in attendance at halftime.

With the victory, Penn State improves to 9-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, clinching the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Rutgers falls to 7-6 overall and 1-4 in league play. Five of RU's six losses this season are to ranked teams.

Rutgers outshot Penn State, 38-35 in the game, and had a 15-13 advantage in faceoffs. RU also forced PSU into 16 turnovers while matching the team's high for goals in a Big Ten game this season. However, PSU's goalkeeper Jack Fraycon made 14 saves and led 30-27 in ground balls, while clearing successfully all 21 times.

"I appreciate all the seniors and all they have given to Rutgers lacrosse across their careers," head coach Brian Brecht said. "It's always tough to finish with your last home game on the wrong side of things. We had our opportunities tonight just like we've had all year. But the margins are razor thin and we have to be sharper. The energy and effort was great, but we weren't as sharp as we needed to be against a good team."

Rutgers was hot offensively, taking a 4-3 lead after 11 minutes of action. However, RU's early burst was countered by Penn State controlling the middle part of the game, using a 10-2 run over a 39-minute stretch to expand their lead to 13-6 with 11:33 to play, taking control of the game. RU had three of the final five goals in the game, but it was not enough.

The four goals from Kulas were the most this season and the most he has scored since tallying five times against Marist in February of 2023. Shane Knobloch added two goals, while Ross Scott had a goal and two assists. James Ringer, making his first start of the season at midfield with Jack Aimone, who is second on the team with 20 goals, out of action, scored a goal. John Sidorski also tallied. Peter Rizzotti, a sixth-year senior making his season debut after being injured for the first 12 games, had an assist, ground ball and caused turnover.

Ryan Splaine had a career-high four caused turnovers. He has a career-best 11 cuased turnovers and 35 ground balls this season.

Cole Brams was 11-of-21 on faceoffs. Matt Soutar was 4-of-7. Cardin Stoller had six saves, while seniors Seamus Fagan and Liam Gray finished off the game in net.

Ross Scott had three points (one goal and two assists). He now has 179 career points, passing John Danowski and Greg Rinaldi to move into 11th all-time on RU's career point list. 
 
Depending on the results of Saturday's Ohio State – Michigan game, RU will be either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Quarterfinals next week, playing a road game at either Penn State or Ohio State.