2/3/2024 other sports Edit

Rutgers men's lacrosse fends off feisty Lehigh to win season opener

Camden Markel • TheKnightReport

Staff Writer

The Rutgers men’s lacrosse team kicked off its 2024 season with a 14-12 victory at home against Lehigh on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights’ win over the Mountain Hawks marked their 12th consecutive season-opening victory.

Rutgers did not start the game off on the front foot as Lehigh won the faceoff and quickly scored less than a minute in. It did not stop there as the Mountain Hawks got on the board yet again at the 12:07 mark in the opening quarter. Andrew Kelly scored each of the opening goals for Lehigh.

The Knights would answer and tie the game up with 2 quick goals in the next few minutes. The inaugural goal for Rutgers’ 2024 season came from Dante Kulas while Jack Aimone fired in the second one.

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Cardin Stoller made his collegiate debut in this one as the starting goalkeeper for the Knights and things did not go as he hoped in his first career quarter as he gave up 5 goals and recorded just one save.

The stars began shining in the second quarter for Rutgers as Ross Scott scored a beauty of a goal and Shane Knobloch followed it up just moments later with a score of his own. One more tally from Ryan Splaine and quickly the Knights had tied the game at 5 goals apiece about four minutes into the second quarter. The goal was Splaine’s first of his career.

Rutgers went on to get its first lead of the day with 6:15 to go in the half when Kulas netted his second score of the afternoon. A bit of back and forth between the two teams and a late goal from the Mountain Hawks left the game tied 7-7 at the half.

The third quarter was when the Knights were finally able to build a lead bigger than just 1 goal. John Sidorski, a graduate transfer from Lehigh, scored twice in the span of just a few seconds which gave Rutgers an 11-8 lead. Following a bit of back and forth, the Knights led the Mountain Hawks 12-10 going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter did not see nearly as much offensive action as the rest of the game. With just over three minutes left, it was 13-11 until Lehigh made things even more interesting with another goal. Now, with under three minutes to play, Rutgers was grasping onto just a 1-goal lead.

The Knights began to try to work the clock over the final minute of the game and did so effectively. To put the icing on the cake, Knobloch rocketed in a goal and it ultimately sealed the 14-12 victory for Rutgers.

The marquee players showed out for the Knights as Knobloch and Aimone led the way, each securing a hat trick, while Kulas, Scott and Sidorski had 2 goals apiece.

“We need our lead guys to step up and be impact players,” said head coach Brian Brecht. “Ross (Scott) and Shane (Knobloch) are certainly those guys.”

Brecht also commended Aimone for his strong play and cited the team’s improved depth as a reason for victory.

Aimone is one of three Rutgers players who were dubbed Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch. He also celebrated his birthday yesterday, so there was a lot of personal hype coming into this game for Aimone. Aimone’s family and friends were often heard going nuts from the stands of SHI Stadium supporting him.

“The Big Ten Preseason Player to Watch thing is cool but in reality it doesn’t mean anything,” Aimone said. “What really means a lot is the 16 people I had up here screaming my name after every goal, they were going crazy up there, that meant so much to me.”

The Knights now look ahead to a road test against Stony Brook before welcoming No. 8 Army to Piscataway the following week.

“Our goal is to go 1-0 every week,” Aimone said. “We’ve done that week one, just to start off the season on a high note is huge going into the rest of the season.”