No. 15 Rutgers men's lacrosse takes down Stony Brook on Long Island
The Rutgers men's lacrosse team continued its strong start to the season with a 16-12 win against Stony Brook on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights' (2-0, 0-0) controlling first half led them to victory over the Seawolves (1-1, 0-0).
Here are three takeaways from No. 15 Rutgers' road win.
Dominant first half
The Knights opened the first quarter with a goal from senior midfielder Shane Knobloch. After conceding a goal approximately 2 minutes later, Rutgers went on a 3-0 scoring run thanks to tallies from graduate student attackers Ross Scott and Tanyr Krummenacher and freshman midfielder Colin Kurdyla.
The Knights held Stony Brook to 1 goal in the first 15 minutes of play and led 4-1.
Rutgers started off the second quarter hot as well, scoring 3-straight goals from Scott and senior midfielders Jack Aimone and Nick Teresky.
The Seawolves would respond with a goal from Noah Armitage, but Aimone and Knobloch found the back of the net minutes later to extend the lead to 7 goals.
Justin Bonacci would score the last 2 goals of the first half to cut Stony Brook's deficit to 5 goals heading into halftime.
The Knights were up 9-4 after the first 30 minutes of action.
Second-half defensive struggles
Rutgers began the second half on the front foot. Krummenacher and graduate student faceoff Cole Brams found the back of the net, and the Knights responded with 2 more goals after a quick tally from the Seawolves.
Stony Brook then went on a 3-0 scoring run which ended with a goal from Aimone.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Rutgers owned a 14-9 lead.
The Seawolves would make the game a close contest in the final quarter.
A Nick Dupuis brace and a Jack Dougherty man-up goal made the game a 2-goal affair with more than 8 minutes remaining.
The Knights were able to keep Stony Brook quiet in the final stretch and ultimately scored 2 more goals to seal the win.
The Seawolves attempted 21 shots in the second half, with 13 of them being on goal.
Strong stat sheet
In the win, Rutgers had eight different goal scorers. Scott had a team-leading 6 points, and Aimone netted 4 goals.
The Knights were superior on the faceoff, winning 21 of the 32 matchups to control possession.
Regardless of the defensive struggles in the second half, junior defender Tommy Mendyke caused three turnovers and scooped up four ground balls. Sophomore midfielder Andrew Macheca made an impact in winning possession for Rutgers with five ground balls.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Cardin Stoller, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after the season opener, recorded nine saves in the game.
The Knights will look to continue their undefeated start to the season in a ranked match against Army on Saturday at SHI Stadium on Busch campus. The faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
For more updates on the Rutgers men's lacrosse team, follow @TargumSports on X.
To view more of Matthew Mangam's work, follow @matthewmangam on X.
