No. 17 Rutgers men's lacrosse blasts Loyola Maryland for 13-5 victory
The Rutgers men’s lacrosse team dominated Loyola Maryland in a 13-5 road victory Saturday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (3-1) have now defeated the Greyhounds (1-3) in their last three head-to-head matchups.
No. 17 Rutgers started off hot in this one and never looked back. Ross Scott began the scoring with an unassisted goal just over a minute into the contest. Jack Aimone and Tanyr Krummenacher followed up Scott’s goal, and the Knights were quickly out to a 3-0 lead.
Loyola finally stopped its bleeding at the 4-minute mark in the first quarter, but Rutgers did not let up. Aimone and Colin Kurdyla, making his first career start, each scored and the Knights finished the opening quarter leading 5-1.
Including the Aimone and Kurdyla goals to end the first quarter, Rutgers scored 10 of the game’s next 11 goals after the Greyhounds’ lone goal in the first. The Knights built up a whopping 13-2 lead halfway through the third quarter.
Goal No. 13 would be Rutgers’ final tally as Loyola finished the game scoring 3 unanswered. It was far too late for the Greyhounds as the Knights coasted to victory.
Following a lackluster performance from Cardin Stoller last week which led to his benching in that game, head coach Brian Brecht spoke on Stoller and how he would still remain the starter between the pipes for Rutgers.
That decision paid off, as Stoller had the best game of his collegiate career against Loyola. He finished with 15 saves and had a save percentage of 75%.
Hat tricks from Dante Kulas, Shane Knobloch and Aimone led the offensive for the Knights, while Scott pitched in with 2 goals and two assists.
Following last week’s ugly loss against Army, Rutgers bounced back tremendously in this game. The Knights led 27-20 in shots on goal and won 15 of 22 faceoffs. The rest of the stat sheet was fairly even, but with Stoller’s strong performance and the efficiency of the attackers, Rutgers won comfortably.
The Knights now have a three-game homestand upcoming, with Hofstra, Detroit Mercy and No. 11 Princeton coming to town. Rutgers will follow up those three games with a neutral-site game against UMass before entering Big Ten play afterward.