No. 18 Rutgers men's lacrosse begins Big Ten play with loss to No. 11 Johns Hopkins
The Rutgers men's lacrosse team was defeated by Johns Hopkins 13-8 on Sunday afternoon at SHI Stadium on Busch campus. The Scarlet Knights (6-3, 0-1) trailed by 1 goal heading into the final quarter but could not complete the comeback against the Blue Jays (6-3, 1-0).
No. 11 Johns Hopkins got on the score sheet first through Garrett Degnon. No. 18 Rutgers instantly responded with 2 quick goals thanks to senior midfielders Shane Knobloch and Jack Aimone. The Blue Jays then went on a 4-0 scoring run to lead 5-2 after 15 minutes of play. It was an offensive battle in the first quarter, and Johns Hopkins outshot the Knights 14-8 to establish a 3-goal lead.
The Blue Jays picked up where they left off, scoring less than 2 minutes into the second quarter. Jimmy Ayers added to Johns Hopkins' lead with a tally approximately 8 minutes later.
Junior attacker Dante Kulas found the back of the cage to end Rutgers' scoring drought of more than 22 minutes. The Knights finished the second quarter with another goal, as Kulas beat the buzzer to make it 7-4 heading into the locker rooms.
After approximately 5 minutes of both teams battling for possession, the Blue Jays broke the deadlock first in the third quarter as Degnon secured his hat trick.
Knobloch fired right back, though, with his 2nd goal of the contest. Rutgers had all the momentum, scoring 2 straight goals via Aimone and freshman midfielder Colin Kurdyla to cut the team's deficit to 1 goal.
Heading into the final quarter, Johns Hopkins owned a slim 8-7 lead, and the Knights were within striking distance.
The Blue Jays silenced the crowd at SHI Stadium with 2 goals from Russell Melendez to extend the team's lead back to 3 goals.
Degnon continued Johns Hopkins' scoring streak with his fourth tally of the game. Matt Collison then got in on the scoring party, netting the Blue Jays' 4th consecutive goal in the fourth quarter. Both teams traded goals to end the affair.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Cardin Stoller recorded 10 saves between the pipes in the loss.
Rutgers will look to get its first conference win against Ohio State on Saturday at SHI Stadium. The game will begin at 4:30 p.m. and be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
"We gotta play better, consistently, throughout the whole ebbs and flows of the game," said head coach Brian Brecht.
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